Unforeseen Circumstances
by TundrainAfrica
Summary: Post Crocodile Tears: It's April, the time of year when most students start salvaging their grades. Missions had taken their toll on Alex's grades and he needs to start salvaging soon or risk repeating the year. Nature wasn't on his side though and it turned out that his devil's luck had just run out. (The latest chapter was written with Spyfest 2018 in mind.)
1. Opportunities

**Hi, I started on an Alex Rider fic back when I was in London cause dam that was one inspiring city. Anyway, here it is. Hope you like it. The first few chapters have been sitting in my computer for a while. Never Say Die is coming soon and what better way to celebrate than to post this.**

 **Edited: I asked Little_Shush to britpick this story and she did a great job in explaining British culture and school system and it was crazy, like learning another language crazy but it's some extra knowledge to add to my belt of random facts. Also, I hopefully able to make this story a lot more believable. Do tell me what you think.**

Alex was once a top student. He was the type of student teachers would bring up during faculty meetings when talking about potential and bright futures.

He had lines of 6's gracing his end of school year reports and frequent one on ones with teachers who urged him to take extracurricular activities or to start picking colleges even at his age. He was well-liked by the student body and had leadership potential. He had also proved to be a force to be reckoned with when he first started training with their football team.

That was before MI6.

After MI6, everyone assumed Alex was a poor boy who lost his way after losing his uncle and succumbed to drugs. One student swore he saw Alex biking after Skoda, their resident drug dealer's car and it spread like wild-fire among the students and inevitably among the teachers too. Some teachers tried to reach out at first and attempted to talk to the young boy in between classes during the few days that he was in school. Most teachers decided though that Alex seemed cold and disinterested most times. When Mr. Donovan, their maths teacher, asked him about his first doctor's note which mentioned a flu, he had tried to press him for more details, Alex did not budge, insisting that it was only a flu and eventually he gave up.

The beauty of the British educational system is that it does not put much bearing on year 9. Key Stage 3 exams are purely held to gauge the standard of education for the important GCSE years. Because of this, Alex was promoted to year 10 with no problems. The unfortunate side to this was Alex was below what his teachers had expected.

As students get promoted, teachers also change.

Mr. Owen Jacobs, a young blond who had taken on the role as their new Science teacher and he had been interested in Alex's case since he had heard the teachers talking about his possible descent into drug addiction last term. He had tried to talk to him the week he came back after summer break. At first, the teacher had intended to keep his distance, watching Alex from afar, hoping the therapy Miss Bedfordshire said he was going through would show its effects. That was until he heard about Alex's disappearance during the school trip to Venice and decided some more intervention might help.

Their first week back at school after the trip, Alex did not show up. On the first day Alex showed up after vacation, Jacobs approached him. The latter looked like he was in a hurry. He was about to mount his bike, his book bag on the basket. The bag looked bulky, filled to the brim probably with books and homework. He knew Alex was struggling to catch up after missing the whole first week of class.

"Monday morning, I'll meet you in the faculty room before eight." Alex assured his teacher that Friday afternoon. "I'm sorry, I have to finish these plus the problem set you gave me." The way Alex addressed him was too respectful, too stressed, too urgent, a far cry from what one would expect from a delinquent or disinterested student. Mr Jacobs could not help but be surprised when Alex did not show up early that Monday morning.

 _He must have overslept._ Jacobs thought, both disappointed and hurt that he was stood up by one of his students. Also, one teacher who had halfheartedly told him not to expect Alex to show up had been proven right. He was one of the many teachers who had seen Alex's potential when the boy first entered Brookland Comprehensive and at the same time, one of the few teachers who still believed that the problem with Alex could still be sorted out. He made a mental note to talk to Alex when the boy finally showed up to school again and give him an earful. Alex though, did not show up to school the whole day, and the whole week, and the week after that and Mr Jacob's mental note silently slipped out of his mind. Little did he know that Alex was in the hospital recovering from a bullet wound.

In the end, Alex had missed his whole autumn term, only showing up during the last week of classes to take mock exams which by god's grace and some luck, he managed to pass.

Only barely though. The teachers all thought when they met during the deliberation of grades. His grades were mid fives on an average. Teachers could not believe that he had scored level 6s at the start of the year. .

All the teachers had already given up on reaching out to Alex Rider halfway through the autumn term and had become desensitized to the numerous excuse notes they have received. Only a few of the teachers tensing in their heads whether the excuses written in the excuse slips were even realistic.

"It's signed by a doctor, so it must be true." They had all thought to themselves at one point.

Some teachers have started to treat his frequent absences and ridiculous excuses as a joke and made thoughtless comments here and there, especially when Alex wasn't there to hear it.

Miss Elder, their second year Maths teacher, had been the first. "See kids, don't take drugs. It's bad for the appendix." She joked when Jack had stopped by to drop his excuse note saying he was in the hospital 'with appendicitis.'

"Had a brawl with some of your 'friends'?" Mr Jacobs had jokingly asked when Alex entered the classroom in crutches after his mission in Nairobi and his brief hospitalization thereafter.

With grades he would have never allowed himself to have gotten years ago, Alex's future was starting to look bleak, to his teachers that is. Alex was sure that MI6 was just waiting for him to turn eighteen so they can recruit him full time. For Alex though, that was just a back-up plan and one he didn't want to have to rely on. He knew he'd probably end up having to do a few missions here and there but to have to dedicate his whole life to it? He'd probably go crazy.

His only goal then was to get a good college, have the job security of a 9-5 desk job and in the later future, have a family. With that goal set in stone, Alex was more determined than ever. That determination was what drove Alex to take the tube to Liverpool street one Saturday morning in early April, to the office he knew so well on an impulse (not to mention, uninvited) after receiving his latest grade report.

"This whole year was a joke!" Alex said as he stormed into Blunt's office and slammed a piece of paper on their table.

"What's this?" Blunt asked as he scanned the paper. "Mock exam results?" Even the ever so stoic Blunt could not hide his confusion when Alex suddenly visited

"I only showed up for two weeks the entire autumn term, I missed my first few weeks this term and this is what happened."

"What do you expect us to do about it? You must have come here, waving your bad grades around our office during office hours for a reason right?" Mrs. Jones asked as she took the paper from Blunt and read through it.

''They're this low because I didn't get to go to class the whole of last term, also, the GCSE specializations I aimed for are also out of the question. All because of those damn messes, you force me into."

"We didn't give you any missions the whole autumn term, you managed to fall into those 'messes' on your own." Blunt had replied as he opened his drawer and brought out a thick file that must have been Alex's. "You missed your first week because you were playing around with Scorpia, you then got shot, recovered, spent a few weeks with Nikolei Drevin, a few weeks in Bangkok due to ASIS… You were back in school by the last two weeks before winter break… If you look at the file, none of these missions were given to you by us." Blunt explained as he slid the file to Alex who stood in front of his table.

"I don't wanna see it. I just want justice for all this. If you can cook up all these excuse notes and media embargo then you can cook up something which can help the teachers understand that I still want to specialize. I still want to attain A-C's , if not all A's, graduate and get into a good college. With these grades, I'm going to end up taking sixth form in Brookland."

Alex sat back down on the chair instead and sighed, recovering from his tirade.

"Well, where would you like to study instead?" Mrs Jones asked.

Alex couldn't help but notice a smirk creep up her lips. ""There are better schools out there for what I want to do." He explained.

"And that is?"

"Preferably something which won't get me killed."

In truth, Alex had no idea. It's not like you needed qualifications to get a 9-5 desk job. Blunt realised his dilemma as he leant forwards with smug look to his eye.

"Why are you so unsure of your future? You know MI6 will welcome you with open arms when you graduate." Blunt said, he knew Alex hated the job, he couldn't help but want to push a few buttons. He had noticed Alex's mouth twitch in frustration. Blunt's face remained stoic but he was chuckling on the inside.

Mrs. Jones was the more understanding one. She tapped Alex on the shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, the most we can muster up are the doctor's notes. We are the country's intelligence department not their education department. Your grades are decided by you and your school's system. What we can do now is leave you to finish this year. You have two more months to fix your grades and we'll give you this as a study leave. Good luck Alex.''

Alex didn't even mutter a 'thank you.' All he could think was how they even had the gall to 'grant him a study leave.' Technically, he didn't even work for them. He isn't someone who's obliged to answer and follow orders. They just find great ways to blackmail him and it manages to work more than half the time. Alex also had to admit, Blunt was right, half the messes he got himself into are messes he made himself and MI6 had to pull him out of. In the end, Alex had to concede. He had only himself to blame for his academic performance.

And he had to act then and there if he wanted to salvage his grades.

No more messes. He had to subdue his spying instincts. He picked the safest and fastest routes to get home to make it easier to resist temptations to chase after anything that looked suspicious. He spent all his extra hours (when not studying) sorting his academic self out, listing key topics to study, scouring the libraries for supplementary readings for coursework and begging for extensions from teachers.

He was absent most of January and February because of the issue with Desmond McCain in Kenya and his hospitalization thereafter. The informal assessments, they released over the weekend showed the results.

"So, what do you plan to do with this? Last term was horrible, you really have to do better now." Jack said as she returned the papers containing his school report back into the envelope. It was the Monday morning after Alex's visit to MI6 headquarters.

"They're not final yet." Alex said, cringing slightly as he recalled the three Fs from Science, Math and Physical Education and the other Ds and Cs. "I still have two months to bring it up." He couldn't blame the teachers though for those grades, they had no basis at all for anything higher. He only submitted at the most half of the course work due last semester.

Alex hated to admit but he was also failing PE. PE was never an issue until he selected it as an option for study, the science of it was lost to his absence. Although he was never there, he always managed to do well in the physical fitness tests his teacher made him do and in the final exams anyway since regular near death situations kept him a lot fitter than most students. That term was a lot different seeing as he was in crutches when he went back to school late February and it was only last week when the doctor finally allowed him to take off the cast. He was still banned though from taking part in any rigorous physical activities, probably until next early May (according to the doctor's note) and that was when final exams are to be held. Mr Wiseman their physical education teacher took Alex's doctor's notes with a grain of salt. He did not believe any of those sicknesses since Alex's performance during the physical exams were too good for someone who has been struck by every illness imaginable. Despite the doctor's note and his seeing Alex in crutches until only last week, he made Alex run the warm up with the class. It was a dangerous risk and the teacher could have been binned for ordering a child with a doctor's note to participate. He was fed up with the endless doctor's notes though and he needed something to prove that Alex was not as sickly as the notes implied him to be.

Also, the boy did not argue. Had he even said one word against it, Mr. Wiseman would have let him sit out but even Alex was getting tired of the lack of normalcy in his school life lately. With the unhealed ankle though, he found himself trailing doggedly at the back of the line, cursing the damned soul of Desmond McCain who had shot at him causing him to make the misstep that fractured his ankle.

Mr. Wiseman called him back to the benches after the warm-up. "I'll let you stop here because of the doctor's note but don't think you're able to get any special treatment because you're good friends with a doctor. Your absences have already done a number to your grades. If you feel like you still wanna fix it, I recommend you talk to Mr Jacobs, they're organizing the Science Technology and Maths camp during the long weekend and since there are a lot of physical activities, students will also be getting incentives from the PE department. Don't let me down. You used to be better than this. I know you're better than this."

Alex nodded and muttered an apology. He hurried to the faculty. His classmates were still running the assigned laps so he had enough time to go to the faculty room and talk to Sir Jacobs.

"I heard about the camp…" Alex said. He wanted to say more but at that moment when his teacher made his way in front of him, he remembered that he had promised to meet him and talk about his disappearance in Venice during the start of last term and the meeting never happened.

"Yeah, it's this weekend in Bath city. You're planning on joining? It's a great way to bring up your grades." Mr. Jacobs said, his voice casual. He didn't look like he remembered their conversation months ago.

Alex nodded, started to feel more and more relaxed by the second.

Mr. Jacobs gestured for Alex to follow him inside the faculty room to his desk. He turned on his laptop and opened an excel file with everyone's grades.

Alex watched nervously as he inputted several numbers and watched the letters beside it shift from a C to a C+ then a B with every number Mr. Jacobs changed. Focusing on the changing letters was enough to give Alex a bout of anxiety. Funny how numbers could have that much of an effect on him.

"I'm glad to know you're making the effort to fix your grades. Listen, I'll give another incentive just for you. Usually, if one group wins the overall prize, and I add an extra 20 points to their coursework score. . I'll give you fifty points if you win, enough for a B or B + as your final grade for science for this year. You lose but participate and I'll give you 20 points, enough for a C or C+."

"Sign me and Tom up for that." Alex said, as he started to plan how he would convince Tom to join him.

The Science Technology and Maths camp was held at the end of every school year, a chance for the students to bring up their final grades by using the ouputs to cancel out lower rated course work and in Alex's case, unsubmitted coursework. Of course, it was also held to foster their love for Science, but that is usually left unmentioned by students. The STM camp was a well-known tradition exclusive to Brookland that the other students would always mention but Alex never got around to considering whether he wanted to join or not. He was absent during the sign up period and the camp itself, his excuse a bad case of the flu. The real reason was at the same time the students were actually going through camp activities, Alex was snowboarding down the ski alps in Switzerland, running away from crazy people who were threatening to dissect him.

He needed to join the camp this year more than ever and he needed a friendly face with him. He found himself looking for the right words to convince Tom to join him while they were on the tube, back to his house in Chelsea.

When the doctor mentioned minimal physical activity, he had also advised against Alex riding his bike to school to minimize physical exertion. It was a frustration at first. The first week back to school, Jack had insisted they take a cab. Twelve pounds per ride was a lot of money that could've been spent elsewhere. That coupled with the embarrassment of being dropped off in school every day and picked up was enough leverage for Alex to argue against that and win.

He was still in crutches the week after so riding a bike and walking were still out of the question. Alex and Jack finally agreed after an argument over breakfast that Alex could take the tube from Sloane Square to his school district and back. There was no need to change trains and Alex, to his embarrassment, was always given the priority seat. His route to school was doctor and Jack-approved and that was the most important part.

Even with his crutches off, Jack insisted he continued taking the tube.

"Wait until the doctor gives you the go signal." She said, every time he brought up creaky bike and muscles that could atrophy at any moment.

Tom, who sympathized with Alex, would come home with him most days, knowing the latter found the tube a boring alternative to riding the bike every day. That day, he noticed Alex looked almost relieved to be taking the tube.

"Your ankle's hurting isn't it?"

Alex nodded silently. He never liked being coddled or even just someone asking about his injuries, especially those he got when on missions.

"He shouldn't have let you run that."

"I agreed to run it Tom, you should have seen my report. They predicted a flat F for Science, Math and PE."

"Shit. Even PE is taking the brunt of your absences. You deserve an A in PE for what you're doing on missions."

"Tell that to Mr Wiseman, you're his favorite student." Alex said, not bothering to hide the slight bitterness in his voice. Mr Wiseman also coached the football team and Tom was one of the better players in their school team so it was only natural that the coach would grow to like him. Alex had trained with them multiple times with the intention of making the first string, with the constant absences though, he never had the chance and probably never would in the future. He would have wanted to try out again during that term but going back to school in crutches had already put a damper on his plans.

"Well, the STM camp is coming up. Mr Wiseman said he'll be giving away bonus points for PE this year. Maybe you should consider signing up."

"That's exactly what I was thinking of doing. Sign-ups are until tomorrow. Do you plan on going?"

 _It's the moment of truth or I'm only going to have until tomorrow morning to force Tom into joining that stupid camp with me._ Alex thought. Joining the STM camp was an appealing thought for most grade conscious students. It guaranteed an A in coursework plus extra points for winners. The problem was, it was usually held during the height of the rainy season. Outdoor activities, science and math problems and hard rains were only a great combination for the most adventurous, the nerdiest and the most grade conscious.

Alex only identified with the third adjective. Alex was not particularly enthusiastic about how the world works and MI6 and his uncle had already supplied him with enough adventure to last a lifetime. As he thought about the camp in the tube, he realized that under most circumstances, meaning if he never got into that mess with MI6 and was getting the grades he usually got, he would have never considered joining the camp and would just suck it up, study and take the long tests and final exams. This was no ordinary circumstance though and he was hoping Tom got the message.

"You've got to be kidding me." Tom said as he noticed the long stare Alex had been giving him for almost a minute already.

"You wouldn't want me to be living in your basement cause I couldn't find a job… Right?"

Tom sighed. He was going to be missing soccer training that weekend and one day of class if he decided to join the camp. He was supposed to use that point to argue then he realized that those complaints pale in comparison to what Alex had been going through the past year.

A few minutes later, he found himself agreeing after he was also reminded of his own grades that could use some shaping up. He also looked back at his own household, which was still loud with the sound of his parents fighting. They did not live together anymore but still spent a lot of time on the phone with each other arguing over divorce procedures and past agreements. He probably needed a break from that too.

"Throw in a tin of Ben's Cookies and we have a deal." Tom added as they stepped out of the train.


	2. Teammates

**Thank you for the reviews in the last chapter. I'll do my best to reply more next time! Enjoy!**

It was already routine to wake up to pans banging, utensils clanging, the stove whirring and Jack calling to him from downstairs to get ready for school. Most days he would methodically go through his morning routine, preparing for his day with no problem. That day though, Alex could not help but pull the pillow over his head and close his eyes a little tighter in a vain attempt to go back to sleep. He was dizzy, nauseous, tired and in pain. It was the day he was supposed to redeem himself and he was utterly sick.

"Come on, you can't ditch Tom. I went all the way to Soho to buy these cookies for him." He heard footsteps then Jack's voice. She was entering the room and any moment she would turn on the lights.

"I would have gone to get it if I could."

Alex braced himself for the glare, curling up a little tighter under the blanket and clutching his stomach which at that moment was cramping incessantly. The pain started off as a small ache last night, similar to what one would get from overeating and his headache was something he easily shrugged off back then. That morning, they had both grown to become their own monsters and Alex found himself wondering whether the camp was worth going to or not.

It'll save you from a lot of discomfort in the future if you just suck it up now. Alex thought to himself as he doggedly pushed himself up, keeping his head down. With how he was feeling, Alex wouldn't be surprised if he found out he was running a temperature too. Jack would for sure notice if she put a hand to his forehead.

Knowing her, she would convince Alex to stay home. Knowing himself, he might end up complying. Alex had to make sure she never got the hint. He had to suck up the pain and play healthy.

"Coming!" Alex felt like he wanted to throw up just yelling that word loud enough for Jack to hear.

He slipped on a sweatshirt and changed from shorts to a pair of jogging pants. His cheeks were starting to burn, the heat almost unnatural. He looked to the mirror to see his cheeks were flushed with what may be a fever and his eye bags were prominent. He pulled the hood over his face, low enough for the shade to cover the upper part of his face. It was early in the morning, Jack might think he was just a bit tired. As long as he answered all her questions, or at least forced himself too, Jack wouldn't ask too much.

And that was what he did. Luckily, Jack didn't ask too much, instead, she did most of the talking. First, it was the scolding for letting his grades get too low, then it was cursing MI6 for letting him fall that low then advice on how to bring up his grades after that disaster of a year and term.

Alex nodded in most parts, ignoring his head that would ache in protest as he did. He made sure to put up an argument in some parts. If he were too quiet, Jack would point it out and he couldn't afford to fight her over that.

They could not have arrived at Victoria coach station any faster.

Jack had left them as soon as she saw Tom. She motioned to give Alex a hug, Alex put his hoodie a little lower and pulled away quickly

"We're gonna be late." He said almost abrasively. "I'll be careful."

With that, they said their goodbyes.

He might have hurt Jack with the sudden coldness but he understood that it was the lesser of two evils in his book.

"Alright, gather around!" Mr Jacobs said over the megaphone soon after he was left alone with Tom. "We're taking the bus right outside to Bath city. The trip is two hours long so I recommend you relieve yourselves now. You may leave your luggage here, the driver will store it in the luggage compartment for you."

As Tom left to go to bathroom, Alex couldn't help but remember the last time he had been to Bath. He had stolen a USB containing the codes needed to destroy whole countries from billionaire Damian Cray. The man had kidnapped Sabina and the chase led Alex to take the train to Bath station. He shook his head. That was more than a year ago Alex, move on, it's your education you should be thinking about now.

He watched closely as the students chatted excitedly among themselves, others looked like they were congregating. A lot of the older students were not first timers and were probably as desperate as Alex for the extra points. He was probably one of the only students who had no idea what to expect in the camp. That already put him at a major disadvantage. He was sure Tom would be on his side but Tom was not very reliable when it came to anything related to academics, his physical abilities rivaled those of Alex though and Alex was sure he could outrun, outswim and outclimb a lot, if not all of the participants if he were in top shape.

With his recently fractured ankle though, he couldn't risk being overconfident. Some of the students were staring at him, Alex could've sworn that there were some students grinning at him like wildcats, like he would be their first prey in the camp and they were ready to pounce at any moment. He tried to eavesdrop on a few conversations as he leaned on the wall waiting for Tom to come back from the bathroom.

With his throbbing headache, the only conversation he was able to pick up was about one student who got rushed to the hospital that one year due to a broken leg caused by a landslide and it was not helping his nerves at all.

What am I getting into… Alex thought as he tightened his grip on his backpack.

"Want one?"

Alex looked to his side to see Tom, pushing the tin of cookies he had given him a while ago too close to his face. That action was enough to break Alex's concentration. He felt a wave of nausea wash over him and his stomach was throbbing in protest. Alex sighed and clutched his stomach.

It hadn't improved at all.

It may actually be getting worse and Alex felt a little more doubtful. Tom would kill him though if he ditched and more importantly, he would hate himself if he ended the year with dismal grades and a fate as a sixth form student in Brookland out of necessity. Alex was not a narcissist but he still knew he was smarter than that.

The only way to make sure that the latter would not even be a possibility was to go the camp get the extra points and have a comfortable cushion for exams. With that in mind, Alex had decided to grin and bear the pain. The down side was the pain hadn't disappeared yet. On the bright side, it was dull enough to be manageable. Also, Alex had a very high pain tolerance (made higher by his frequent missions and injuries) that he was actually able to block off most of the pain. Nausea and stomach aches were sometimes associated with lack of sleep, stress and fatigue that was exactly what Alex was thinking or at least trying to convince himself when he felt that bout of sickness. Besides, he never got sick. He probably just needs some sleep.

And that was exactly what he did in the bus. As soon as he settled on the window seat in the bus, Tom on the aisle seat beside him, Alex leaned on the window and closed his eyes. The next thing he felt was someone shaking him awake and the beginnings of a worse headache.

Or is it a migraine. Alex thought as he shut his eyes tighter.

"I'm awake, stop shaking me." Alex snapped, regretting it immediately after as even raising his voice was painful.

"Are you okay? You're looking a little pale."

Alex forced his eyes open. The sunlight streaming through the window was glaring and Alex could not help but shut his eyes once again. The nap he had did nothing but make him feel worse. He listened to the footsteps as the students got off the bus. He heard excited murmurs, some whispers but Alex couldn't bring himself to eavesdrop on them. Though he was a spy and could easily make out what the whispers meant, the migraine was too overwhelming and it was already taxing for him to prepare to leave the bus.

"Lets wait for everyone to get off," Alex said, his voice low. He had tried to raise it but with how he felt, he could only manage a whisper without aggravating his head and his stomach.

"Alex… Are you really okay?"

Alex had felt what he was leaning on move. He only noticed then that half way through the trip, he had shifted to leaning on Tom's shoulder, an alternative he had to admit that was better than the cold hard window. That was until he felt Tom's hand on his forehead then heard a low gasp. He must be as hot as he felt.

"You tell the teachers I have a temperature and I swear you will be wearing a skirt everyday till next month ." Alex said. He heard rustling beside him as the shoulder he was leaning on started to move. He then heard the pop of what sounded like a small box being opened.

He painstakingly opened his eyes to see Tom holding a water bottle in front of him and what looked to be a familiar orange pill.

"Take one, it might help."

Alex knew exactly what that was. Jack had given him similar medicines the few times he got sick. It lowered fevers and worked as a painkiller

"Why do you have this?"

"My parents insisted I bring it. They like us being prepared when it comes to outdoor excursions. And it is coming in handy right now. "

Alex smiled in thanks. "I just have to last three days then as soon as we get home, I'll rest," He assured. He popped the pill into his mouth, dry swallowing it.

Tom did not bother to hide the worry in his face. "Keep the box, take the pill every four hours. It will help keep the fever down."

"Just keep it, Tom. I'll ask you for one more later." He pushed the box back to Tom. He was glad that his friend didn't argue. He didn't want to explain that the only reason he didn't accept the medicine was because he didn't want to waste any more energy putting it inside his bag or his pocket and he was sure energy was already becoming a scarce resource inside him.

 _What's happening to me…_ Alex thought as he closed his eyes. He heard the last few students get down from the bus and he knew he'd have to get off soon too. He reached for Tom's arm (or at least he hoped it was his arm) and lightly squeezed it, hoping Tom understood the message. He would need support getting off the bus while hiding the fact that he wasn't feeling too well.

"Everyone's out now, let's stand up."

Alex felt Tom's hand on his shoulder, supporting him as he stood up. He kept one hand on the chair top as he stood up. His head felt like a dumbbell was surgically implanted inside it and his arms and legs felt like lead. He opened his eyes. "How do I look?"

"Peachy. The medicine should bring the fever down though. Just try your best to act natural."

"Easy for you to say," He whispered as he discreetly leaned on Tom for support as they got down from the bus. He looked to the bus driver who looked too immersed in a crossword puzzle to notice anything wrong with him. He was praying that everyone in camp would be just as dense.

You just need to last 72 hours here. You've experienced worse in missions. This should be nothing.

 **Unforeseen Circumstances**

The summer house they chose for the camp was big, almost comparable in size to the Damian Cray's summer house. It wasn't as elegant for sure but it was cute and quaint, a lot like what one would expect from a place like Bath. It resembled most farm houses with big yards and a nice view of the nearby city and enough forest to encourage him to take daily morning walks.

Voluntary morning walks. Alex thought to himself as he listened to Mr Jacobs introduction of the area, more specifically, the mention of 'highly encouraged' morning exercise. They had gathered in the dining hall, only a few minutes ago but to Alex, it felt like hours.

"You will be divided into groups of four to five."

Alex only realized then as they all gathered that they were only around twenty students and five staff including, Mr. Wiseman the PE teacher of the lower batch, Mr. Donovan, Mr. Jacobs, Miss Elder, a school nurse and someone Alex could not recognize who he guessed were house staff. He looked back at the students. Brookland Comprehensive was a small school so he recognized all the senior years by face.

He scanned the faces for anyone who he could tolerate being groupmates with, none of his teammates were there though. They were all, according to Tom, reluctant to join because they did not want to miss training. Most of the senior years were the more studious ones, those aiming for As in GCSEs. Some were probably looking to push their coursework up from a low A to a high A because God forbid, there is actually a difference. He recognized some faces of the upperclassmen who would jeer at him over his rumored drug addiction. He never learned their names though.

Alex guessed that he and Tom were the only people with below average grades who decided to join since most people with grades as bad as his wouldn't care enough to use extra credit to fix it.

From his class, he saw Christine Bridge, a petite blonde who was always called first when teachers announced the highest grades in the class. She was also very active in the debate and chess team, the expected personality type of someone who would voluntarily choose to go to the camp. Beside her was her close friend, Irene Llauder. She had that same look as Tom so Alex was guessing she was just as forced to go to the camp as Tom was. Those were two people he would be okay being groupmates with. The other two people from his class were the louder ones, Aryanne Copeland and Aaron Hart who according to Tom, were the most vocal when it came to jokes about him and his frequent absences. He didn't know them well but he was sure he wouldn't enjoy much as their groupmate.

"We will be having brunch from now and we will give you until 1pm to settle down and meet with your teams."

"How are they picking groups?"

Whether it was a choose-your-own-group system or assigned grouping system, Alex knew it would be a lose-lose for him. The pro of the choose-your-own-group system was that he and Tom would be together and that would make the camp overall a bit more bearable. The con of this is that they would have to stress over who else could be their groupmate since everyone else seemed like they had already formed their own clique. With the assigned grouping system, they would not have to stress over finding groupmates but the chances of Alex getting good groupmates were notably very low.

After a few seconds of nervous contemplation, Alex concluded that there was only one acceptable outcome that could come out of all this and that is if the teacher assigns groups and Alex and Tom end up in the same group through sheer luck. If Chris and Irene end up in our group that would be perfect. Alex smiled at the thought of the perfect case scenario.

Even just the probability of Alex and Tom ending up in the same group was at the most a 1/ 100 chance and he'll probably need Satan's luck to even have a fighting chance at his perfect case scenario.

One should also take into account the possibility that Alex and Tom will end up in different groups and Alex will end up with Aryanne Copeland, Aaron Hart and two seniors who all share the same negative sentiments about one Alex Rider. That luckily did not happen.

When the groupings were finally announced over brunch, Alex could not help but still feel that he had drawn the short straw though

As the students moved to the same tables as their groupmates, Alex and Tom went separate directions.

At first, Alex had been relieved to see Christine on the same table as him. All he needed was one friendly face.

His relief was short lived though. A few seconds later, Aaron Hart joined their group.

What made it worse was seeing two seniors approach the table. He would have been okay with any other senior. He recognized their faces though and could clearly recall the way they would jeer and mock him when they see him in Brookland. They were bullies and they were Alex's groupmates.

Monday could not come any faster.

 **Nothing to say here, but do leave a review telling me what you think ^^**


	3. Medication

**Thank you so much to everyone who offered to Britpick my story and to little_shush especially who told me lots about British culture. I'm glad people are enjoying this story and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well.**

 _Magis_ is a Latin world, easily translated to more or better. For many philosophers it meant "to do more" for the greater glory of God and for the service of others to form the ideal society.

For Nicholas Statfield though, it meant getting 13s on GCSEs, getting first pick when it comes to universities and being the best at anything he attempted to do, to name a few of his philosophies. Because of this long standing, strong yet very erroneous belief in magis, Nicholas, Nick for short, was easily able to discipline and motivate himself to achieve his dreams. He was always one of the top students. He spent his weekends winning debate competitions and tutoring less fortunate students and his weekdays either training for debate competitions or writing for the school newspaper. He also kept himself fit by going to the gym everyday since he had always believed that good body was equivalent to a good mind. _Mens sana in corpore sano._

His determination to uphold his Latin beliefs which of course was peppered with a little privilege (if not a lot since his father was a hotshot lawyer in London), Nick in simplest words, was handsome, smart and talented relative to the majority. Because of that, others either secretly envied his lot in life, looked up to him and wanted to be his friend, if not date him. This type of treatment coupled with his upper middle class upbringing kept him far from what was considered down to earth and those who he considered lesser beings were peripheral damage which came with the regular maintenance of his ego.

An example of the lesser beings mentioned above was one Alex Rider and Nick had made it clear since the rumors started that he had hated him and found it appalling that he would waste the education, the British government and of course the British citizens, him included, had worked so hard to provide for him.

"Trust me, get any child off of the streets of Africa and put them in Alex's place and for sure, they wouldn't throw this opportunity away. I am sure they would have done better than that druggie Alex and I would make sure they do." He had said to Aaron Hart when they talked in the newspaper room.

Aaron Hart, one year level below him and fellow writer in their school newspaper was the one who would update him about Alex's whereabouts and with every disappearance, Nick had felt his hate for Alex only grow.

Three weeks in bed with a flu! Trust me, if I were a boss and my workers asked for three weeks off for a flu, I'd fire them on the spot. This is ridiculous, he should be expelled.

Aaron Hart was the one who saw Alex biking after Skoda's car and he was quick to tell the whole newspaper club. The only thing stopping them from publishing that was their moderator, Mr. Bowman who had said that that was not 'wholesome news' and that may have been all a coincidence.

"Yeah right, no one would bike that fast after a the car of a drug dealer unless they needed something from him. If you know what I mean."

He was vocal about his contempt, making sure the teachers would hear it every time he mentioned the drugs Alex might be taking.

"Appendicitis? Stupid, they just don't want to say drug abuse because Alex would get kicked out if they did."

He made sure to put emphasis on the words 'drug abuse' and 'kicked out' as Mr. Jacobs passed by when he and Aaron were talking in the hallway.

Nick had already hinted at the teachers to consider Alex's status as an enrolled student in Brookland but according to Aaron, they still called his name when checking attendance and teachers would still ask about him in between classes and this news frustrated him. Alex had the work ethic of a sloth and by Nick's standards, he had no right to be in school and his joining the workforce one day would only be detrimental to the growth of their country. Being one of the better students, he believed it to be his duty to weed out the shit people as soon as possible.

Plan A aka hint-to-teachers-to-kick-Alex-out didn't seem to be working thus, Nick decided to move on to Plan B.

Ask any psychologist, professor, philosopher, priest etc and they would all say that bullying is bad. Nick though was a big fan of Machiavelli and strongly believed that , the end justifies the means and if bullying Alex would be doing England a favor then he would do it without hesitation.

Besides, it wasn't bullying per se. On the contrary, he understood Alex's plight as being one of the more feeble minded and he was hoping to open Alex's eyes to other opportunities and that school was not the only option. His friends and clubmates understood his sentiments and they all went to work to open Alex's eyes to the 'possibilities.'

One of the first was Aaron Hart.

It all started when Alex arrived in school in December, his bag filled to the brim with coursework, his eyebags prominent.

"Hey, my father manages a farm back in Devon, maybe you would consider working there. You don't need to finish school if you can't handle it." Aaron struggled to hide the smirk that creeped up his lips as he said that. That night he had also introduced the idea of hiring to his father, talking about some student who was struggling to pass even the easiest subjects.

"That's very kind of you but I'd rather try my luck in school first." Alex had replied, not even looking up from the textbook he was studying.

Aaron was also able to convince his friend Aryanne Copeland to push Alex to other paths. She as well, understood the value of education and agreed that Alex was not making the most of his opportunity to even be educated and had taken matters into her own hands as well during the start of the spring term.

They were distributing sixth form propectuses during the first week of February. Alex had disappeared the day after their field trip to Greenfield at the start of the spring term unsurprisingly.

Being the Class representative, Aryanne was in charge of giving out the propectuses. She gave out pamphlets to every single student. She intended to be less vocal about her dislike for Alex Rider at first, making sure to start simple. When distributing the pamphlets, she nonchalantly passed by Alex's desk, slipping a pamphlet in front of Tom.

"Just give me Alex's, I'll make sure to take it to him." Tom said

"You think he would have shown up now after that disaster last term." Aryanne sighed and looked at Tom morosely. "Getting this would only stress him out. I'll make sure to give him an apprenticeship form instead or a military one, but with their stringent health standards, he probably won't make it."

"Alex's choices are none of your fucking business."

Aryanne almost jumped. The last thing she had expected was for Tom to raise his voice at her. She turned behind her to see that a lot of her classmates were staring back at her, as if to cheer her on. She looked back at Tom and smiled and couldn't help but think if he weren't friends with Alex, they could have been good friends. "Oh? So you're going to wait until Alex takes Skoda's place? We're trying to prevent a disaster before it happens."

Aaron had told Nick about that last scene during their tri-weekly meetings and the latter couldn't help but laugh at Aryanne's reaction to Tom snapping. "Give that girl a medal. Are you telling me he still hasn't gone to school since spring term started?"

Aaron shrugged. "He was there during the first days and the field trip. The teachers were barely teaching anything though. I don't think those days counted for anything."

"His prospects are getting smaller and smaller everyday." Nick sighed, shaking his head.

"I heard from Miss Bedfordshire he'll be coming back by next week though. He's in the hospital right now, a very bad infection apparently and he got into an accident as well."

"The accident I believe, the bad infection I don't. I'm guessing he got into some brawl during a police raid. Sucks though that he couldn't get a prospectus. Wouldn't want him coming back to school empty handed." Nick walked to the file drawers, opened the top drawer and skimmed through the files and pulled out one of the latest newspapers. The school newspaper kept many of the latest issues for reference. "Tell me when he gets back. I'll leave a surprise more fitting on his desk"

It wasn't too hard for Aaron to find out when Alex would be back. When he left their club room, making his way to the exit, he saw Tom just outside the faculty room talking to Ms. Bedfordshire. What caught his attention was the mention of the name Alex Rider.

"Alex won't be joining the football team anytime soon...That's disappointing. I was hoping that would be the reason he'd start going to school again."

Aaron leaned against the wall that hid him from view, already aware of his breathing. He wondered if it was loud enough for Tom and Ms. Bedfordshire to hear from where they stood only a few feet away.

"He's been wanting to join since the last term. He told me he'd be joining training as soon as the spring term started." Tom said sounding as disappointed as Ms. Bedfordshire. " He told me he fractured his ankle badly. The doctors were reluctant to even release him. They only released him on the condition that he takes this week off of school. The earliest he can come back is Monday."

"He'll be in crutches… How long?"

"A month maybe? Depends on his physical therapist. I'm gonna be helping Alex as soon as he gets back. Knowing him, he'd be in hell."

"And his birthday's coming up right, it must be hard..."

Aaron had his information. He did not wait anymore for the two to finish talking. Aaron ran to the other direction, exiting the school through the back entrance. As soon as he got home he messaged Nick about the chat he overheard between Tom and Ms. Bedfordshire. He put his phone on silent mode back on his desk and started on his coursework due the next week.

The coursework had been hectic and Aaron had almost forgotten about what he texted until that Monday morning when Tom screamed. " Who did this?" from his place at the back of the classroom.

"Leave it Tom. Shit happens." It almost felt weird to hear Alex's voice. It was more serious and weaker than he had remembered.

Instinct and curiosity was what pushed Aaron to look back. He saw Alex sitting back on his seat, his crutches leaning on the wall behind him. He could tell that even just sitting back was painful for Alex. The first two buttons of Alex's uniform polo were open and Aaron could not help but gawk. Were those bandages under his shirt?

A fractured ankle and those kind of bandages. Those were injuries one gets in a brawl. Alex was not sick. Aaron felt his hands shake in frustration. Why did he go so far as to lie in every single fucking doctor's note?

The pages of the social studies textbook he had been studying crumpled under his hands and Aaron had to stop himself from causing any more damage. He willed himself to continue highlighting and writing notes in the margin but his mind was on Tom and Alex's conversation. Tom sounded furious so his side of the conversation was loud and audible. Aaron strained to hear Alex's voice though.

"We should at least tell the teacher about this. This is bullying."

"I don't think leaving a page of the jobs listing of the newspaper counts as bullying."

 _Yeah Tom._ For once Aaron agreed with Alex. As far as he and Nick were concerned, they were doing Alex and society a favor but encouraging productivity in a drug dealer. He made his way to Alex' desk at sat on the edge.

"Education is only compulsory until sixteen Alex. If you hate school that much you're free to leave after next year. This is your headstart." He grabbed the newspaper clipping and hid a smirk when he saw the jobs Nick highlighted. "You can do casual leaflet deliveries, or work as a barista in Costa Coffee. The possibilities are endless." Aaron threw the paper back at Alex and walked away, making sure his back was turned. He didn't want them to see the snicker escaping his lips. Some others were laughing too and Aaron found that his own snicker was mixing with his classmates. Messing with Alex had become a class hobby.

If not a school hobby.

With Alex's recent injury, messing with him had become much easier. They would borrow his crutches while forgetting to give it back, others would accidentally bump into Alex in the hallways in between classes.

Tom had called them out for bullying a few times, only to be stopped by Alex moments later. There was no bullying as far as anyone was concerned. Alex was not pushed around, injured or ostracized. He was merely inconvenienced if not offended by the occasional banter and the way they would playfully push him around in the hallways.

Aaron along with Aryanne and Nick, had fallen into the rhythm of picking on Alex Rider when convenient. His main priority was still high grades though and Alex fell into the backburner like extracurriculars during finals week. Aaron still had to note though that Alex didn't disappear as much anymore. Because Alex kept mostly to himself, Aaron didn't feel much need to talk to Alex either. With the lack of Alex worth thinking about, his own hatred and frustration towards him died down.

By the time he saw Alex in the coach station on their way to the STM camp, all he felt towards him was casual disgust and derision.

His initial reaction when he first saw Alex,head down, probably napping, on their assigned table was a grimace but he was quick to replace it with a friendly smile. He had been playing teacher's pet long enough for that to become second nature.

Long time no talk, Rider. What made you join the camp? He wanted to ask, rehearsing in his head his friendliest voice. As he approached the table though, he saw two other seniors approaching the table from the other side- Nick Statfield and Bruno Orwell.

They were divided into groups of five. He was with Nick Statfield and Bruno Orwell, two students he got along with and shared the same negative feelings towards Alex Rider, and Christine Bridge, who was not particularly vocal or self righteous. That meant no necessity or no merit if he played nice with Alex for the sake of a more united group. With that realization, he sat down beside Christine avoiding all eye contact with him

If Bruno or Nick were as appalled, disgusted or offended, they did not show it. Aaron though, had seen Bruno's quick flinch at seeing Alex in their table.

"Interesting group we got here." Nick grinned as he patted Aaron on the back pushing himself in between Christine and Aaron. "And Alex, fancy seeing you here. You know this camp won't be able to pull your F to an A right? I really hope you did the math right."

Aaron had found the jokes funny at first but as he watched Nick tease Alex, he realized that he was not enjoying it so much. A part of him actually wanted to help Alex out. Maybe it was because Alex was not very reactive to it. Or maybe it was because somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that Alex didn't deserve it. He had been classmates with him long enough to know that he had been a good student once. He attended class before and always submitted coursework and homework on time. Alex didn't look like he belonged with the other druggies either. His eyes looked too serious and focused for someone who sniffed coke daily. He just looked like he didn't belong and maybe that was reason why he was harder to relate to.

Making an effort to relate to him, wasn't worth it either. He didn't want to deal with any rumors or ostracizing if ever he did decide to mingle with Alex or even make an effort to talk to him. If Alex was going to grow up to be a druggie anyway, how would a friendship with Alex benefit him?

Nick and Bruno were sure shots at the best colleges in England and abroad and had bright futures ahead of them and Aaron knew that staying on their good side was the most beneficial. Ignoring Alex was a small price to pay to stay friends with better people.

He willed himself to let go of the guilty feeling he felt towards Alex, instead, turning his attention to Nick and Bruno who for sure would be the leaders of their five man team. He wondered how they would handle Alex. It was obvious for him that Nick and Bruno hated Alex but was Alex aware of that?

That's not my problem. The important thing is we win. Aaron snuck a look at Alex to see that the latter was a little pale and his cheeks were flushed. _Is he sick? Then he shouldn't have gone in the first place._

Aaron couldn't help but feel a little more frustrated. The camp stressed teamwork and one of the components for judging was the proper division of work between teammates. They could have ended up with anyone else in this camp yet they got the dumbest and the weakest. Alex was only going to slow them down. He turned to Nick who was reading through the papers, the teachers gave out to each team. _How is Nick going to handle the extra baggage?_

He didn't have to wait long for his answer.

Nick looked up from the paper. "Today will be outdoor games, tomorrow the long race and on our last day sunday, indoor games. Most of us here are good students so for sure we will be able to contribute to most if not all activities. The problem here is Alex." He pointed the paper at Alex who seemed to be struggling to focus.

"You're not the best student so for sure you'll not have anything to contribute to the discussions which we won't be able to contribute already." He turned to the others. "My suggestion is we put Alex in charge of all manual labor. Hopefully it won't be too taxing for his sickly body" Nick said the last few words with poorly hidden contempt. Aaron couldn't blame him. No one believed Alex's excuses, and this was a perfect place to let out their own frustrations on that particularly.

Aaron and Bruno were quick to agree with Nick. Christine stayed silent but one look from Aaron and she nodded as well.

"And what if it is too taxing on my sickly body" Alex asked, crossing his arms.

"Then I go to Mr. Jacobs and tell him you're too sick to have even joined this camp. You'll be sent home and your GCSE and projected A level scores will stay as miserable as they are right now. Believe me Alex, we can finish this camp with or without you. Just do what we, your groupmates are asking you to do so we're all happy. " Once again, Nick put emphasis on the too sick and that was enough to leave Alex speechless.

Aaron took note that Alex almost looked guilty. His illnesses could have been a lie from the start with the way he was reacting. If Alex's illnesses were a lie, that meant that he would actually be the better choice for manual labor. Alex had been the dark horse during their PE classes last term, showing up at the last minute, only to beat the highest scores of his classmates in endurance runs and strength tests. Also, it worked well as retribution for all the lies Alex had made in his doctor's note.

It was a perfect group set up but Aaron could not shake off the feeling that they would end up regretting this later.

 **UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES**

Nothing good came out of the group assignments for both Tom and Alex but luckily, the room assignments were on a pick-your-own system and it was two to a room.

After brunch, their teachers gave them time to settle in their rooms until lunch time, announcing that the camp would start soon after.

Tom walked side by side with Alex on the way back to the room. Alex was walking slower than usual, his eyes drooping. Tom had wanted to tell Alex about his own experience with his group but Alex didn't seem up for it.

As soon as they arrived in the room, Alex dropped dead on the nearer bed. "Tom, close the curtains. My head is killing me." He didn't sound angry or annoyed but there was no room for argument.

"Alex, you need more medicine?"

"How many times am I supposed to be taking that? Didn't you say every four hours just a while ago?"

"I'm just worried okay. You know we can call this off if you're not feeling too well. We just need to tell Mr. Jacobs."

"Nope, not an option."

Tom put his bag down on his own bed and searched through the smaller pockets for the pill box. "Just take one more. It's over the counter so I don't think it will kill you. It might make you feel better for later."

Alex sighed and sat up. "I guess one more wouldn't hurt." He took the pill from Tom's outstretched hand and dry swallowed it. "It's not so bad, really. I'm just resting up because I don't think I'll have a chance to do this until tonight." He lay back down and rolled over, facing the other side of his bed and Tom knew the conversation was over. Only a few seconds later and Alex settled into a more relaxed rhythm. He was asleep.

Tom carried his bag to his side of the bed and searched for the pill he had given Alex a while ago, it was oblong and orange but there was no name. All his mom said was that it was for keeping fevers down and a pain reliever. He settled on his own bed and googled the "orange pill, fever" to discover that the pill was aspirin, a familiar name.

He had lived with overprotective parents long enough to know that WebMD was a lie half the time with the common side effects for taking aspirin. What caught his attention was the forum post which came up in the lower points of one of the websites.

 _Aspirin, as a sleeping aid._

 _My wife has been…._

Tom didn't bother to click on the post. He turned to Alex who was sleeping too soundly. Alex had slept over in his house many times and the way he slept at that moment was too unnaturally relaxed and peaceful from what he had remembered.

He turned back to his phone and opened a new window. He clicked on the google search box.

 _Aspirin and drowsiness._

He then, clicked on the first few links.

 _Does aspirin cause drowsiness?_

 _Drowsiness is a known side effect of Aspirin._

He turned back to Alex. "Alex." He said, his voice echoed in their small bedroom. Alex was a light sleeper and a voice was usually enough to wake him up. Alex continued to sleep though, the rhythm of his breathing unchanged.

"Fucking hell."

 **For some reason, I actually had a hard time writing this, got stuck half way. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Do leave some reviews and feedback. Hoping to hear what you guys have to say.**


	4. Loopholes

**Sorry this was kinda late. School was kinda an arse. Anyway, Hope you enjoy this chapter :D Special Thanks again to little_shush for her brit picking and beta reading :D**

They were given two hours to settle down in their rooms. Being A students, most of the students started congregating and planning even before lunch time. From inside his room, Tom could hear inaudible voices of the students outside and the bang of doors opening and closing. Tom locked his own door, silently apologizing to his own teammates for not even making an effort to join them.

They had knocked and he heard a muffled 'must be asleep.' He chose to stay silent though, keeping up the facade. He had more important things on his mind.

 _Fever while camping._

 _Sick_

 _Lower Fevers._

Tom scrolled through the history on his phone. Fever was usually just a sign of an infection. If Alex just had a simple infection, some outdoor activities shouldn't make it worse. What was more worrying was the reason Alex had the fever. Alex never got sick.

 _Fever causes_

He kept his eyes on Alex as he typed it into the search box. _Should I be messaging Jack?_ He thought to himself. Being Alex's best friend in Brookland, he had made sure to save Jack's number especially after Alex had started working for MI6. _For emergencies,_ She had said when she miscalled his number for him to save. Tom had imagined a car chase or a shooting when she said 'emergency.' The last thing he expected was a feverish Alex and them stranded in the British countryside.

 _Viral Fever, Bacterial Fever, Drug Fever, Blood Clot Fever, Tumor Fever, Environmental Fever, Special Medical Conditions._

The list was endless and as soon as Tom started reading, he regretted it. He wasn't a doctor, neither was he even science oriented and he understood less than half of the explanations he had googled. The mention of cancer, diabetes and influenza were enough to worry him though

 _It was unnecessary to worry. We're too young for this. It was probably one of those fevers that would clear within hours. He was probably just tired._ He had tried to reassure himself. Tom couldn't help though but slowly make his way beside Alex, checking for any other possible symptoms that stood out in Alex's body like a rash or spots. _Signs of a bacterial or viral infection,_ according to google.

Alex was lying on his side, his back turned to Tom. Tom silently made his way to the other side, taking in Alex's face, his cheeks were not as flushed as a while ago. Alex's left arm was clutching his stomach. His right hand was under his head. After analyzing the position for a second, Tom decided to try the left arm. It was clutching Alex's stomach but it was easier to maneuver an arm that wasn't weighed on by a head. He reached for Alex's left arm and pulled it up, checking for a rash in the inner part of his arm.

He had only pulled it halfway up before the hand grabbed his head and pushed him down on the bed. He yelped as he cheek made contact with the linen of the bed.

"Tom, what the hell were you doing?" Alex sounded more annoyed than surprised as if he had expected that disturbance. .

"I thought you were sleeping. The pill I gave you was aspirin, you would have fallen asleep with that."

"I was for a while." Alex let go of Tom's cheek and clutched his stomach once more. "Tried to go back to sleep but my stomach hurts like hell."

"Maybe it's a stomach bug?"

"Maybe…" Alex closed his eyes and bit his lip. Tom had seen the same look many times when Alex was in worse pain.

"How's your head?"

"It's better than a while ago."

Tom put his hand to Alex's forehead. It wasn't as hot as it was back in the bus. Looking at Alex though, he couldn't help but shake off the worry, the Alex at that moment reminded him of the the Alex he visited in St. Dominic's hospital last winter. At that time, Alex was recovering from third degree burns and a sprained ankle. What scared him this time is he couldn't find an explanation for Alex being that sick.

"We should call the nurse." Tom suggested.

Alex brushed Tom's hand away from his forehead. "I'd rather be dead than unemployed"

"I'd rather you didn't die. We were suppose to climb Mount Everest and run the Disney Marathon together."

Alex smiled at that. He had saved Tom from bullies back when they were younger. The friendship that happened between them was too natural and like all close friendships, they had made their own almost unattainable promises.

"The least you can do is tell me how you feel. I've been reading WebMD articles the past hour and they're not very assuring." Tom continued.

"I'll tell you now. But you swear to god you don't tell the nurse because even I wouldn't know how to explain it."

"Why?" Tom asked. _Is it embarrassing? Is it taboo?_ His mind wandered and he couldn't help but think back to the diseases taught in sex education class- syphillis, gonorrhea, AIDS.

"I know what you're thinking, and no it's not." Alex was quick to answer. "I've been having stomach cramps since last night and dulled for a while." Alex brought his right hand tighter around his stomach. "When I woke up though, it suddenly got worse. My right side feels like there's a knife stuck in it"

"Your right side?" Tom leaned closer as if that was going to change Alex's answer. As soon as he asked that though, he started to remember his own personal experiences. Back when he was younger, his brother, Jerry had complained about stomach cramps and then pain in the same area. That ordeal had ended with an emergency room visit, surgery and a week long hospital stay.

Alex sat up. "Remember our first week of school last September after our trip to Italy. I was in school for a week, then gone again. What did Mr. Jacobs say I had?"

Tom did not have to think. With his memories of Jerry in the hospital and the memories that Alex had brought up, he had figured out the illness almost instantly. "Appendicitis…" Tom shook his head in disbelief. "But you told me you got shot."

"MI6 wouldn't want anyone to know that so they had all those phony illnesses added into my school health record."

It was only at that moment that Tom understood how thorough Alex had been with keeping his identity a secret until that point. Their school had annual health check ups but Alex was never there for them. When he had asked Ms. Bedfordshire about it a few times, she had mentioned that he had his own doctor but for formality's sake and in case anything happened in school, the school still kept her own record,. Nothing ever did though, if Alex felt sick he stayed home, if Alex felt like he was getting sick or was tired in the middle of class, he either went home or sat it out until he could go home. It was understood that he was sickly and no one would ask twice. Neither of them thought until that moment that Alex could ever be trapped in a school activity for two nights with an illness that could be fatal.

"That's just the worst case scenario though, it could be a stomach bug for all we know." Alex added reassuringly. He reached for his phone which he had hidden under his pillow and took a long deep breath. "It's almost 12, we should leave."

Alex started unpacking his things and during that time Tom made one more quick google search.

 _Appendicitis probability_

 _Appendicitis has a lifetime occurrence of 7 percent…_

Seven out of one hundred. Seven was not a large number. Alex could more likely be part of the 93 percent than the seven percent. Diagnoses in WebMD may not be so reassuring but statistics were much more reliable. He was not fully assured of Alex's being okay since he was still moving slowly compared to how he normally was. What he searched though was enough for Tom to be able to put his mind on other things like surviving this ridiculous camp and with his own share of grade conscious teammates who like all other participants of the camp were hell bent on winning first place for the grade incentives

 **Unforeseen Circumstances**

Alex had taken his sweet time unpacking. He could have gone faster if he probably put his mind into it. The wrong circumstances tend to slow most people down though. In that aspect, Alex was like most people. His circumstances were wrong in so many ways. His near future consisted of him working with a group who obviously hated him, and running on sleep inducing medication. Also, Tom hadn't been doing anything to even hurry him up which he was grateful for.

Despite Tom's protests, he had popped a few more pills into his mouth, praying his willpower and the events of the day would be enough to keep him awake. During their orientation and lunch break, he had turned down the sandwich offered to him by the staff and allowed himself to doze off for a bit while Mr. Jacobs and Ms. Elder discussed the plans for the next few days only forcing himself to focus when Mr. Jacobs flashed the mechanics of the grading system.

There was a table and there were numbers and percent sign and the A, B, Cs that were obviously grade equivalents. Even with his trying to focus, Alex could not absorb the information on the board. As he forced himself to make sense of it, his head would throb in protest and Alex would find himself back to square one. Eventually, he decided to close his eyes instead and doze off once again. He could always figure it out after the camp.

That was a short lived,yet much needed nap. Alex did not feel better by the end of it. With his condition though, he realized it was vital that he took what chance he had to rest. The sharp pain of a while ago had dulled but still throbbed ominously. Alex couldn't help but sense the urgency of his own condition. _Was it instinct?_ One thing was for sure though, Alex's instincts always got him into trouble and that day, Alex wouldn't allow it to drag him into more. He ignored the gut feeling and willed himself to look ahead at the last few reminders.

The bold letters blurred and the only thing Alex could pick up was the **GOOD LUCK,** a few lines below the last reminder, a few font sizes bigger. Ïf Alex was alone and in better condition, he probably would have laughed at that last line. _Can they give something more helpful than two words?_

"Let's go."

Alex almost jumped as he heard Bruno's voice coming from behind him, he felt a hand on his shoulder roughly pull him from his seat. He recoiled from the force of the pull and leaned on the table to catch himself.

"I don't need you to tell me that." Alex answered. There was no need to raise his voice. One perk of his unfortunate status in the school as a resident druggie is no one would talk to Alex unless they needed something. Alex was not very vocal either so there was no need at all to push himself to sound healthy or to sound like he was actually trying to be friendly. One of the of the few, if not only time Alex was grateful for his bad reputation.

The afternoon sun was bright and as soon as they stepped out into the backyard Alex had to force himself not to go back inside. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, resisting the urge to put his hand on Bruno for support. He opened his eyes just enough to follow the navy green of Bruno's hoodie. As soon as they stopped, Alex's opened his eyes a little wider. The crowd was enough shade for Alex and he slowly opened his eyes. From his place at the back, he could make out the blue of the pool and it was when he saw the slight glimmer did he realize why it had been so bright in the first place.

 _Why was the pool filled during mid spring?_ Alex put his arms around himself as he watched the wind make waves on the pool. It was a sunny day but it was still notably chilly. Alex surreptitiously brought out his phone and checked the temperature. _Seven Degrees._ _Did the teachers really expect them to swim?_

"We didn't expect a cold snap this late into spring, so we had to improvise with this exercise." Alex recognized that voice as Ms. Elder's.

"We had the pool filled a few days before. We were supposed to ask you to measure the volume of the water in the pool with a meter stick. Since, it is too cold to dive in, we instead, will ask you to measure the depth of the pool at the deepest part. The ratios of the length and width to the depth are all in this diagram. From there, you can figure out what to do on your own. You will all be given a meter stick and a copy of the diagram. The fastest team to get the correct measurement in two to three significant figures, gets first place. Have one representative get the materials from there and as soon as everyone is with their respective groups, we can start."

The students around Alex's group were all abuzz as they waited for their group mates to come back with the needed materials. Aaron was their representative and as their own group sat on the floor by the pool waiting for their companion, they did not say anything at all. Alex was surprised that neither Nick nor Bruce spoke up to discuss a plan. He found himself debating whether to bring up the topic. He wasn't in good terms with either of the two seniors who obviously headed the group but at the same time, he needed the good grade and he didn't want any shitty group coordination stopping him from graduating.

"Aren't we supposed to be discussing a plan?" Alex asked, willing his voice to sound innocent and neutral and not at all frustrated with his three companions.

"You're excited." Nick commented, not sounding at all amused with the Alex's 'excitement.'

"This is a race. If we want to win, we have to start planning now."

Nick smirked at Alex. "We already have a plan and believe me, we'll be done way before the others have even started calculating the depth."

At the moment, Aaron arrived with the meter stick and a piece of paper. He handed both materials to Nick. The latter didn't even look at the piece of paper. "So when do we start?" He asked.

"We wait for Ms. Elder to call the shots." Aaron answered as he sat on the floor beside Nick. "So what's the plan?"

"Why don't you show us the diagram so we can at least make one." Alex had thought about it already. They just had to measure the length and width and use the ratios to find the depth of the pool. His biggest problem was having them listen.

Nick raised one eyebrow at Alex before he ripped the paper in half. "I told you, I have a better plan."

 _What the hell._ Those words were at the tip of his tongue but Alex held them back. "Tell us your plan then." Alex said, keeping his face stoic.

Nick walked towards Alex and pressed the meter stick on his palm. "Dive in and measure the depth."

 _But it's freezing._ Alex wanted to say. He looked to his other teammates. Aaron was looking away, Bruno watched silently, looking too amused at the turn of events and as always, Christine was quiet and avoiding eye contact. What made it worse was the wind that decided to blow past him at that moment, as if it mocking him while siding with Nick as well. "It might not work. I jump in and the water will get higher. It won't be accurate." Alex argued. "Besides, they gave us the ratios of the length and width for a reason."

"The pool is wide enough that it shouldn't affect the height so much if you dive in. Besides, we round it off to two significant figures, that's enough room for error. Also…" Nick let go of the meter stick and held the two sheets of paper with both hands. "We have no other choice." He ripped the paper into smaller pieces a few more times. Alex looked behind Nick to see Ms. Elder too busy using her laptop on a nearby lawn chair to see what was happening. He wasn't a flake and for sure, the teachers would believe a star student over a resident druggie. There were many other options, he could've borrowed Tom's group's copy of the diagram or just go up to Ms. Elder and at least try to tell her what was happening. He could also just back out of the camp and accept his end of the year marks. He could also just accuse Nick of bullying him. All these options would either cause him to get lower marks or completely destroy his chances of ever getting along with his teammate, which would also result in lower marks.

"Okay, we have no other choice then." Alex kept his voice toneless. He didn't want them to hear the salt in his voice. Alex didn't care about his relationship with his teammates. Sure, he cared about the lower marks but one big reason why he had decided to attempt it was because of pride. He had been through worse in missions. He was sure it was an attempt to get him to quit the camp, an attempt to bring out his weaknesses. He saw it as a challenge. Alex removed his shoes and his jumper. He debated whether to take of his shirt as well and decided against it at the last minute. He needed a semblance of warmth when he got out.

He wanted to bend down and test the temperature of the water. He also had to stop himself there. If it were too cold, he might end up backing out. From his peripherals, he could see the other students stop what they're doing. Ms. Elder still didn't notice what was happening and he didn't want her too. Before anyone else could say anything that would make her look up, Alex had to jump into the pool.

"Alex! what the hell are you doing?" That was Tom's voice. By the time he screamed that though, Alex was already in the air and diving fast into the water. He could have described the sensation of jumping into ice cold water in seven degree weather as hell. The water burned in some places while it stung in others. The shock of jumping into water that cold had taken him by surprise and before he could even calm himself down, the water had entered his nose and mouth, making it harder for him to even focus on the task at hand. He surfaced and took a deep breath

"Alex!"

He heard Tom's voice and approaching foot steps. Alex wasn't focusing on anything though. Ms. Elder may have already noticed him and he had to finish fast. His head hurt and his body was starting to numb. He dove back into the water. The meter stick felt like nothing in his hand. He had even forgotten for a moment that it was there. The deeper part of the pool was not much taller than him and most days he could have dived in headfirst , touched the bottom and swam back up no problem. With his present circumstances though, even diving feet first was a struggle, and alex felt like Death himself when he forced himself down to the pool bottom with the meter stick.

As soon as he felt his feet touch the bottom, he held the wall with one hand to keep steady and pushed the meter stick down.

 _One meter._ He counted to himself as he felt the meter stick push up on his palm.

He flipped the meter stick up.

 _Two meters._

He pressed the meter stick against the wall and swam a few feet up. He flipped the Meter stick again.

 _Three meters._

As he repeated the process one more time, he felt the meter stick suddenly get lighter. It had broken through the surface. Keeping the meter stick pressed against the wall, he carefully swam up to the surface, keeping the meter stick unmoving.

The chill of the pool was getting to him though and the black lines on the meter stick started to aggregate into patches of ink. Alex desperately put one hand his other hand on top of the ruler, attempting to use his fingers as a guide to find the right measurement.

At the last minute, someone pulled on the meterstick, just as Alex was able to focus his eyes on one of the smaller numbers.

"We got it Alex, It's 3.4 meters. Get out of the pool. It's freezing."

"What?" Alex muttered, but he was sure no one could hear him. He couldn't even understand himself.

Someone pulled the meter stick out of his freezing hands.. A few seconds later, he felt two hands pulling him out of the pool.

Alex gripped the edge of the pool and pushed himself up. He lay on the side of the pool for a few minutes catching his breath. To hell with hurrying, he felt like he was dying.

He felt someone drop a towel on him. "Get up. You need to change."

"The results?" Alex's eyes were still closed but as his other senses acclimatized once again to his surroundings, he was able to figure out that the one who pulled him out was Aaron.

"Nick submitted it already. We won first."

"Aaron, how is he?" That sounded like Ms. Elders voice.

"He's still breathing and conscious."

"Alex! Can you hear me?"

"I'm fine." Alex managed to answer. He grabbed the towel and sat up.

"The waters freezing, you should not have done that, being as sickly as you are."

"You didn't tell us we weren't allowed to jump in."

Ms. Elder sighed. "I recommend you meet with the school nurse. I'm sure Mr. Jacobs will be as reluctant as I am to let you join the rest of the games today."

"What about teamwork and coordination?" Alex asked. _What about my grades?_ He wanted to add.

"You've done more than enough for your team in this round. They should understand. We understand."

Alex sighed, making it look like a sigh of disappointment. On the inside though,he knew it was a sigh of relief. It was only the first round and he already hated it. He went through the hell of diving into a freezing pool, won first for ungrateful teammates and for sure he had also made a few more enemies from other groups for attempting such a risky method of winning and actually succeeding. He needed a break. "I don't need to go to the nurse. I'll stay in my room and take a warm shower."

"You're not feeling sick? The water was freezing. You should have at least felt cold water shock."

"Believe me, I'm fine. I've dived in lakes colder than this in Scotland." Alex wrapped the towel around his shoulders, grabbed his jumper and shoes and made his way back to the room.

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter and leave a nice review if you can? Helps feed the hungry plot bunnies.**


	5. Pursuers

**Thank you for all the very encouraging reviews! I really enjoy writing this story. We had a huge shit storm just yesterday and classes were suspended so I had enough time to write this chapter.**

 **Thanks again to little_shush for beta reading :D**

The cold water was hell yet Alex found himself almost missing it as he showered in water 30 degrees warmer than he had dived in. The cold water wasn't the greatest companion but for a moment, it had let him forget about the other trauma of a while ago. As the cold water was replaced with the comfort of a warm shower, the stabbing sensation returned as well, slowly and painfully. Alex put his hand over the source of the pain and gritted his teeth as he realized that even minimal touch aggravated his side.

He heard the door open and almost jumped. He was not expecting anyone to enter the bathroom. They had their own restrooms by the pool and garden where the rest of the games were happening. He had also told Ms. Elder he didn't need a nurse to check on him.

"Alex?" That voice was all too familiar and Alex had recovered in less than a second.

"Don't you have a team to help out?"

"I wasn't of much help in the pool part so I don't think I'll be much of a help either in any of the games theyré playing outside right now. Also, Ms. Elder didn't want you to be left alone."

"Well, if it's between my best friend or the nurse. I know who I'd pick." Alex pulled the towel hanging on the door, quickly dried himself and got dressed.

"Well, she told me you didn't want a nurse so she suggested I stayed with you instead."

"Of course why the hell would I want a nurse when all the information they have of me is wrong anyway." Alex leaned on the wall and slid into sitting position as he dried his hair with a towel. "Besides, I'm not that 'fragile and sickly.'"

"You're not well enough to be jumping in freezing cold water either."

"Believe me I've done worse in missions. That was nothing."

"With possible appendicitis?" Tom sat beside Alex and narrowed his eyes at him "You're killing yourself."

"You know there's no correlation between cold water and appendix inflammation speed right?" Alex continued to look down as he dried his hair, not even attempting to look at Tom. He didn't want to make eye contact. He could feel Tom's eyes though trying to do just that. Alex closed his eyes , hoping it made it was enough to make Tom give up..

"That's not the issue here!" Tom roughly pulled the edge of Alex's towel. The force was hard enough for Alex to have to let go and keep both hands on the wall just to stop himself from falling over. "What bothers me." Tom continued. "Is that you did it. You risked your life because Nick bullied you into it, I guess? If you didn't know, people actually die in freezing water Alex. That's why they changed the whole fucking game."

" I've been in freezing water a few times, I'm still here. It's not acid, it's cold water. I know my limits.

"No you don't. If you knew your limits, you wouldn't have done what you did in Venice, in that bio research school trip. Both times, I was on the receiving end of some shitty news about you almost dying."

"But I'm still alive." Alex lay back on the cold wall and closed his eyes. At that point, Tom seemed to him like he was just arguing for the sake of arguing. His side was also starting to throb. "I really don't get what you want to you scolding me for doing that? I'm sorry. What do you want me to do then?" He kept his face innocent as he said that. His intentions were wholesome as he said those words, he knew though that it could be interpreted as mocking and he didn't want Tom to get the wrong idea.

"Maybe you could… you know, next time they tell you to do something stupid and life threatening, you don't do it." Whether Tom was insulted with what Alex said or not, it wasn't apparent.

"You know Nick, so you know I can't do that."

"Or better yet, leave the camp early and get yourself to a hospital."

"I can't do that either. I need the grade. They won't give me another chance like this." Alex held his knees close to his chest and sighed softly.

"So you're willing to risk your life literally for a fucking grade?" Tom asked sounding so appalled, Alex had to wonder how he hasn't been eaten by the educational system yet.

"I told you before, I'd rather be dead than unemployed."

Tom sighed. "Let's get you back to the room" He said as he pressed a small zip lock into Alex's palm.

The latter nodded silently as he opened his palm to see the familiar orange pills of a while ago. He felt his body relax just by the sight of it and chuckled lightly as he speculated his own possible addiction.

"You okay?" Tom asked as he helped Alex up.

"Yeah, don't worry too much." Ironically, at that moment, Alex leaned much more heavily on Tom's shoulder and the latter felt it.

"You know, I should stop asking if you're okay because you definitely aren't." Tom gave Alex a sardonic smile. "Until we get you to the hospital, I should start asking you if you're still alive instead."

Alex rolled his eyes in reply. He wasn't wasting any scarce energy answering that.

 **Unforeseen Circumstances**

The scary part about being sick was the uncertainty.

Alex was quick to go to sleep as soon as they went back into their room. Whether he was going to wake up healthier or sicker than he was at that moment was something he had bothered himself with the few minutes before he actually did fall asleep. Alex knew if he was right and he did have appendicitis, that meant that he had a ticking time bomb inside him and he could wake up much sicker than he felt at that moment, if he actually did wake up again. _Would he be able to manage whatever they threw at him the next few days if it did?_

Alex knew he needed the rest though and he ended up succumbing to his own fatigue and tiredness instead of his fears. Luckily, he wasn't in for any surprise and he woke up a few hours later to Tom shaking him awake and to similar discomforts

"We're going out to the city."

"What do they expect us to do there?"Alex grimaced and pushed his head under the pillow He had been to the city center of Bath many times with Ian for his work and had gone through Bath Station, the city centre when he went to meet Damian Cray in his Wiltshire mansion. The old Roman baths were the main attraction of the city. He had seen it long before, the first time he had been to Bath with Ian but he never felt the need to see it more than once. The experience was like a novelty. The first time is a must so if people ask, he could say yes. The few times after the first were useless and Alex was sure it wouldn't have made a difference at all to him if he'd actually gone at all those times.

"Team bonding." Tom said blankly. Alex could almost hear the hint of concealed laughter in Tom's voice.

He snorted from his place under the pillow. "Wake me up when we actually have to go to something required."

"It is required."

"And what do they hope to gain from making us mingle with our teammates." Alex asked, trying to answer his own question as he did. He had nothing to gain from hanging with his group. He hadn't planned on talking to them much after the camp, it was obvious that they hated him and he didn't feel the needed to force a friendship where it was obviously fruitless. They weren't exactly civil either so Alex had planned to stay as far away from them as possible. He considered feigning illness again but decided against it once again as he realized that he was already in delicate waters trying to feign health and wellness.

"Camaraderie, better strategies for tomorrow. I know my group planned on going shopping for stuff."

"Tomorrow..." Alex racked his already tired brain with the orientation and announcements of a while ago. "Oh god, you mean the long race?"

"Apparently, it's a long race, survival course type of thing and we're gonna need to start strategizing now."

"Did they even tell us what we're going to do?"

"Nope, they said they'd provide the necessary tools to finish it. We buy the rest of the things we think we'll need. Consumables, provisions"

"Nick probably has a better plan" Alex muttered, not bothering to hide the bitterness in his voice. He sat up and opened his overnight bag. As he emptied the smaller pockets for possible equipment that might be useful, he thought back to the gadgets Smithers had given him over the year. They may prove useful in the survival course but Alex didn't consider bringing any of them when he packed. The gadgets were either returned to MI6 or if he kept them, he tended to hide them or keep them scattered around the house. They were nothing more than an unwanted reminder of his other life yet at that moment, he wished he had kept at least one gadget close, especially for that camp.

"You really don't plan on making nice with your group…"

"They don't plan on making nice with me either. If it wasn't for the stupid team cooperation being part of our grade shit, I probably would've left my group right when the groupings were announced." Alex opened the ziplock with the medicine and popped the last two pills in his mouth. "We're gonna have to refill your medicine stash. I guess it _is_ a lucky break that we're going to the city today."

Tom took the empty ziplock and medicine case from Alex and stuffed it into his bag. " You know those pills are supposed to last three days. If you're taking that much, that means something."

"Yeah and I'll keep taking them until the camp ends." Alex said matter-of-factly. He hoped the conversation was over after that. The pain medicine dulled the head ache but at that point, the pain wasn't the issue but the fear that every single throb or ache was a hint that something much bigger was going on his body.

The aspirin and Alex's high pain tolerance had mostly masked the throbbing pain in his head and the stabbing sensation in his stomach. By the time he climbed down from the Bus and into the Bath City station, he was numb. He couldn't say he was well, the fever was still taking its toll on him. Alex silently trudged on though after Tom. He had kept close to Tom the whole bus ride, not even bothering to make eye contact with Nick, Aaron or anyone else from his group. They were all divided in their own groups. Chris was back with Irene, Aaron sat with Aryanne and Alex wondered if there were teams which actually improved dynamics over the afternoon. Luckily, his teammates didn't approach him as they exited the bus.

"It is five o'clock right now. We meet here by seven, dinner will be at eight back in the rest house."

Alex took a glance at his own phone. _5:02._ He caught a glimpse of his teammates who were politely ignoring each other as if the trip to the city wasn't a team building event. It didn't matter to him.

He put his hand on Tom's shoulder and pushed on him from behind. "Let's just find a cafe or something." Alex looked ahead, willing himself not to look behind him in case he accidentally made eye contact with his teammates and they force him to tag along with them.

Alex had been to the city many times. As he pushed Tom ahead, he thought back to the many restaurants and cafes he had eaten in when he was there. He thought of Pret a Manger and Cafe Nero as a good option for a while as he walked with Tom through the high streets of Bath. Both cafes were bustling with people drinking afternoon tea though and Alex started to consider other cafes. He thought back to the handmade burgers he had eaten with Ian during their last trip together and opted out of it as well when he remembered that burger joints were never quiet. There was one store he remembered as quiet. It may have been due to its location in a quiet alley which stretched out from the high street of Bath or maybe because most people bought milkshakes to drink outside or maybe because he knew it was still too cold for milkshakes to be a desired snack for most people.

With that logic, Alex brought up his last suggestion to Tom. "Shakeway?"

Tom shrugged. "Up to you. You're the sick one."

Alex ignored Tom and lead on. It was a Friday night and for most people, that meant pubs, whiskey, beer and late nights out and for people in Bath, Friday nights started much earlier than for those in London. Tough luck, most if not all the pubs in that area were clustered in that particular section of the high street. Alex could not even see the end of the street nor could he make out the floor patterns as he pushed his way through the crowd. The streets may have been a blur but his other senses made up for it. The footsteps and voices were amplified to the point that Alex was starting to feel dizzy. If it got worse, Alex knew he was going to end up throwing up. He hurried through the crowds, ignoring Tom behind him. He had to get to the alley soon.

The main streets were swarming with people, too bustling and too loud that when Alex stepped out of that street he immediately felt the stark contrast.

It made it easier to hear the hesitant footsteps that followed behind as they turned right and entered one of the narrower and less crowded roads. The footsteps were agitated and hesitant, the rhythm too unnatural to be someone just taking a walk. If it were someone who was actually in a hurry, the rhythm would have been consistent and someone would have zoomed past the two boys a few seconds after. The person slowed down though. He was also too silent. They were being followed

"Wait, isn't shakeaway-" Tom started

"Let's go. We don't have time to drink..." Alex said, willing himself to sound exasperated as if he was merely guiding his friend through the city. He needed to catch their pursuer offhanded. He pushed Tom through the streets, willing himself to recall the map of the city and the dead ends. He wanted to whisper to Tom to get away fast but he didn't know how much the pursuant could hear from where he was.

 _Did the pursuer have a gun? Could he disarm him if he did?_ "Tom, you go ahead to Shakeaway. I just have to check out something in the candy shop. Jack wanted me to bring home some nougat." An utter lie. Jack hated nougat but that was the first thing that came to Alex's mind when he glanced at the shop window to his left, the print on the display too grand for Alex to ignore. Tom wouldn't know though that Jack hated nougat.

"I'll come with you." Tom didn't notice the lie but he was not cooperating.

Alex forced himself not to look back. "No. You go ahead. I want you to order so at least when I get there…" He argued. His heart was beating faster, his head was starting to throb and Tom's face was starting to blur. Alex looked down and closed his eyes, trying to placate the nausea and pain that was burning through his system.

"Then we could just go to the candy store after. It's not gonna close until- Are you okay?"

Whoever the pursuer was, he probably already knew he was spotted. Alex did not know what he wanted but whether he wanted to steal something from him, kidnap him or even kill him, he knew that he had to fight. "Tom. Just run. We're being followed." He didn't bother whispering anymore, instead he prayed Tom realized the urgency of the situation.

"Alex, we need to get you to a hospital."

Alex could hear the footstep getting closer. His heart was beating faster and it was getting harder to breath. Alex forced himself to look up, pushing away the wave of nausea that washed through him. "Go!" He pushed Tom ahead with all the energy he could muster. He had put too much force on the push and Alex found himself falling face first on the ground. He tried to bring his hands up, ready to catch his fall and quickly push himself up to confront the pursuer. His body wasn't obeying though and Alex braced himself for the impact only to fall on someone's arms. It wasn't Tom. The arms that held him were longer, more muscular, It was the pursuer.

 _But why am I still alive? Is he kidnapping me?_ Alex tried to wiggle out of the man's arms. He felt the man's torso with his arms, readying himself to kick him a few inches under that. The man only held Alex tighter though, making moving almost impossible.

"What do you want with Alex?" It was Tom's voice.

 _What the hell Tom._ Alex thought to himself. He was using up too much energy, trying to break free from the man's grip, he couldn't muster enough to even curse his friend.

"I think I should be the one asking questions here. Why is Alex in Bath? What does MI6 want from him this time?"

 **Do tell me what you think. The plot bunnies of this story thrive on reviews, comments and constructive criticism.**


	6. Promises

**I have been getting lots of feedback from a fandom which I thought has been dead for some time. Just wanted to give a big thank you to all the people who reviewed. I WILL reply to all of you. For guests who review, if you make an account I can pm you or if you were too lazy to log in, just tell me your username and I'll definitely chat ya up!**

 **I'm really happy cause I do enjoy writing this story. It was the domestic fic I've been craving for a long time. I'm glad you enjoy the story as well and I hope you do continue to enjoy it.**

 **Enjoy!**

Bath City in late spring wouldn't have been Ben's choice for a family getaway. The history of Jane Austen and the Roman Baths weren't particularly exciting and he was freezing cold in late April. A cold wave, the weatherman had said.

Ben had suggested even before the trip that they wait until July and plan a trip to the beaches in Cornwall or Devon instead. As the whole family sat huddled in one of the corner tables in Pret a Manger for some hot chocolate and more importantly, to keep warm, Ben had to use up all his willpower not to say "I told you so."

His mother and sister were both quietly sipping their hot chocolate, looking too distracted by the outside chill that snuck in every time someone opened the door and by the hot chocolate which was still too hot to drink. His father on the other hand, had successfully distracted himself from the cold by reading an outdated newspaper.

Ben saw that as a good opportunity to check his phone. He reached for it in his pocket, trying his best not to make too many unnecessary movements. If his mom noticed it, he would be in for another lecture. The past two days they had been in Bath, his mother had told him off for checking his phone every time he brought it out during meals . "You could check it all you want when you get back to London." or "This is family time, Benjamin." were her favorite arguments.

He noticed his younger sister Chloe staring at his side. She had noticed the phone which he had discreetly checked, only to give him an understanding smile soon after. Ben sighed in relief.

"Are you okay?"

Ben almost jumped. He looked up at his mother who was sipping her hot chocolate as she stared intently at her son, her blue eyes looked like they were taking apart his every movement like always. It had scared him when he was a kid and he had thought that his mother could see through every lie he had made. Over the years though, through experience, he had started to understand that her intense gazes meant nothing, Nora Daniels could tell he was hiding something if it danced on stage with a neon sign.

Nora actually had been asking about her son's health at that moment and not about what he had been fiddling with under the table. Ben had figured that out when he saw her worriedly glance at his chest. Ever since the accident that had happened in Indonesia last December, his mother had attributed every single pained look or moment of distraction he had since then to the bullet wound. She gave Chloe a questioning look.

"Mom, I'm not a doctor yet, I can't answer that." Chloe said defensively.

"You're taking the medicine foundation program? You should know about the strict recovery regimen of a bullet wound."

Ben glanced sympathetically at his younger sister who started picking at her plate. Chloe was the pride of the family. She had grades good enough for the government to grant her a partial scholarship and loan to take a medical foundation programme in Bath Academy. It covered her dorm expenses, tuition expenses and book expenses. His family wouldn't have been able to pay it any other way. His parents knew that if she kept it up, she could maintain a scholarship until medical school, a feat almost unimaginable to them. Because of that, the pressure was intense and Ben almost felt bad for his younger sister.

"If you researched mom, the average recovery time of a bullet wound is two months. I could have been back by February if you let me." Ben said, trying to divert his parents attention from his sister.

"You're always trying to replace real medical knowledge with the damned internet. Let your sister answer the question. She's had more experience than you'll ever have." Nora argued as she pointed the fork at her son. Her voice was more indignant and she sounded like she deliberately wanted to offend her son. Ben understood though. His mom had opposed his joining the military for a long time.

He wanted to remind his mother that he was the one who got injured and received legitimate advice from a real doctor. He remained silent though. His mother was quick to get angry when challenged and he didn't want to ruin the family get together. He also hated to say it but she was right to have convinced him to stay in Liverpool with them that long. There had been complications in the recovery process. One reason why MI6 had approved the five month leave from work. Ben shook his head as he started to recall the painful recovery, instead putting his mind into more positive things like when the doctor finally allowed him to do field work only last week.

He was going back to work the Wednesday of next week and his mom had requested they meet as a family before he goes back to London. He had already settled the issues with his flat and employment papers with MI6. All he needed then was the blessing of his parents or at the least, to settle the guilty feelings inside him knowing he had mooched off of his parents for five months after almost getting killed doing a job they did not approve of. They knew he worked for the military, but he could not tell them he worked for the special operations division of MI6. They did not condone though his risky career choice and never failed to mention it at least once or twice a day. Without leaving MI6 and pursuing another career choice, the least Ben could do was join the family get together his parents planned and cooperate. It did not change the fact though that he would have rather been back on the field at that moment.

He had been in contact with Ms. Jones already and had been reading and catching up with the many mission files and cases that had been dealt with while he was recuperating in Liverpool. The special operations cases that he had been putting a lot of his attention on though was the case of Alex Rider. The last time he had seen Alex was when they stormed the oil rig of Major Winston Yu. The last contact he had with him was through the Get Well Soon Card he had sent to him through Ms. Jones who had visited him while he was recuperating in a hospital in Darwin.

He had forgotten about Alex for a while as he instead focused on his own recovery. His parents had been notified when he got shot. If it were Ben's choice, he would have kept them out of it. MI6 had contacted them though, Mrs. Jones explained to them that they were not sure if he would be out by Christmas. After that, his parents had called everyday, nagging and pestering them to come home earlier. He had released himself from the hospital in Darwin against medical advice and flew back home to Liverpool with the help of MI6. With the five month leave and the rocky recovery, MI6, more specifically Alex had slipped out of his mind.

When he started easing himself back to work and reading the files MI6 was sending him, more specifically the one on Snakehead, his thoughts flew back to the one Alex Rider, he had met in the mission in Thailand and Australia. He had mentioned Alex to Ms. Jones when she had the files sent to him. She had said Alex's information was all classified. That only worked to feed Ben's curiosity even more

Alex was only a teenager, he estimated him to be a few years younger than his sister yet he was exposed to the dangers Ben himself had trained years to be qualified to deal with and had dealt with the mission Snakehead as if it were second nature to him.

He was amazed that the boy could do so much yet at the same time, he was disgusted to have heard about someone as young as Alex Rider going through experiences unimaginable for Ben when he was his age. It almost sounded like abuse to him. Fourteen year olds should be stressing out over GCSEs, not terrorism and world domination.

 _Did Alex really enjoy working for MI6? Was he blackmailed into it?_ Alex had shown signs of both. The only thing Ben was sure of though was that he was going to have to get to know the young teen more if he were to ever be able to answer those questions.

As his family continued to discuss his injury, his sister's future and god knows what else, Ben stayed quiet. When the conservation moved on to topics concerning his career and his sister's future, things would start to become delicate when he joined the conversation. He had been with his parents long enough to read the atmosphere. He brings up an opinion about the topic, his parents would attack his lack of qualification and experience to give an opinion about the issue, mumble about how he should have gotten a degree in law or political science and instead ask his sister for her opinion, even if she was years younger him and did not see much of the world outside the classroom.

He surreptitiously brought out his phone once again.

He was hoping to have gotten a text from his unit or MI6, enough to let him leave the table for a few minutes. He could always say he didn't feel good and go ahead to the hotel room but his mother would fuss, one of the many downsides of a bullet wound. He could always just leave to say he was going to take an important call for work. His mother would call him out for being rude though.

In the end though, he realized that his comfort was worth more than whatever comfort he was giving his family by staying there. "I have a call to make. I'll be back." Ben said, giving his family an apologetic smile as he stood up and exited the restaurant.

Nora rolled her eyes at her son. "Ben, how many times do I have to tell you? It's family time."

"It's an important call. I'm going back to London next week, you know I have a lot of things to fix."

"It has always been about work, never about your family. When will you learn that friends come and go, but family is forever." She continued to argue as if she believed in it herself.

 _Not when your family treats your livelihood and career like shit._ Ben wanted to add. Instead he widened his smile, hoping his mother wouldn't see the frustration in his face. "I'll be back promise."

"Just let him go Nora."

Nora turned back to her husband. "You can't be serious. Jay, you've been staring at the newspaper the past few minutes. Why don't you reprimand your son?""

Jay Daniels looked up from the newspaper, his eyes looking tired but serious "Because he needs no reprimanding, he's 23."

"His A levels were good enough to get him to university"

"That was more than five years ago. Ben made that decision himself and he'll answer for it eventually."

"Because...

At that point, Nora's attention was not on Ben anymore and Ben silently walked away and out the store

If they weren't directly attacking him about his career choices, they were talking about it as if he wasn't there. It had been like that since he had chosen an unconventional path when his parents were hellbent on making sure both their kids would make it to at least an undergraduate degree.

Ben knew from the start that he wanted to work in the military. The comments hurt but Ben knew the best way to cope was to avoid it when possible. Living with them for months in Liverpool was hell and he was excited to get back to life.

He looked at the date on his phone.

 _April 27, Friday_

 _Four days till I leave for London._

Ben repeated to himself again and again as he pocketed his cell phone and looked up and surveyed the busy street. In fact, he could have left for London earlier. Even Mrs. Jones though had insisted he spent time with his family before he left.

"Shakeaway?"

It was one word, one voice. When Ben heard that voice though, he felt his bullet wound throb a bit as if it was recalling the event of five months ago. That London accent was all too familiar and before Ben could stop himself, he looked up and turned to the sound of the voice. Only a few feet away were two boys, their backs to Ben. One of them had dark hair. One of them had the familiar shock of blond hair Ben had expected to see when he heard the voice of a while ago.

He knew that Alex was from London. Mrs. Jones had told him that much.

 _What the hell was he doing in Bath? On a Friday Night? When he was supposed to be in school? Or at least going home from school?_ Ben's curiosity overtook him and he found himself trailing behind the the two boys. If it wasn't Alex, it was a big misunderstanding and Alex should be safely back at London or god knows where on a mission. He hoped that former was right. If it was Alex, he was on a mission. He wouldn't miss school anyhow.

He wanted to message Mrs. Jones, ask about this mission. He was literally in no position to ask though. He could always wait until Wednesday and hint to his colleagues when meets them. Or, he could approach Alex and ask about it.

He chose the latter. If it were Alex and he was on a mission, he could use a little help. Besides, Ben wanted to get back on the field as soon as possible. He quietly followed the two boys as they walked through the streets, pondering the possible mission he may have gotten into. The boy beside him looked to be Alex's age.

 _What was he doing out of school as well?_

A possible cover.

 _It could have been a school trip._

No school would organize a field trip so close to the end of the year.

Ben silently followed them through the more crowded streets of Bath. He had been working long enough in the military to be able trail properly and successfully. Even with the crowds, he knew how to keep track of the two boys while keeping a safe distance.

It was when Ben stepped into a quieter street a few paces behind Alex did he become aware of his own footsteps. He tried to slow down, at the same time, trying to keep his footsteps relaxed as he followed behind Alex.

Wait, isn't shakeaway-" The dark haired boy asked as he pointed at the blonde.

"Let's go. We don't have time to drink…."

Ben followed the two boys as they worked their way through several alleys, making sure to keep track of any landmarks as they walked. Where were they going? Bath didn't seem like a very shady place to Ben. He wondered why Alex would have a mission there.

The two boys stopped in the middle of one alley.

"Tom, you go ahead to Shakeaway. I just have to check out something in the candy shop. Jack wanted me to bring home some nougat."

The London accent was more apparent with that last phrase. It was definitely Alex.

"I'll come with you."

"No. You go ahead. I want you to order so at least when I get there…"

"Then we could just go to the candy store after. It's not gonna close until- Are you okay?"

Ben froze. Did Alex notice he was following him? He could not underestimate the boy. He would not have become such a reliable spy for MI6 without knowing a few tricks. He wanted to run to a corner and hide but Alex would definitely notice if he did.

"Tom. Just run. We're being followed."

"Alex, we need to get you to a hospital."

Ben was close to running out of there and into the crowded street. It was Alex. He recognized the voice, the shock of blond hair and when the dark haired boy had finally mentioned it was Alex, all doubts Ben had immediately disappeared.

Hospital. That was one word that had Ben running towards Alex instead of the other direction. Was Alex injured?

"Go!" Alex had pushed the other boy away but while doing it, had lost his balance.

Ben hurried towards the young blonde and caught him before he could collapse on the ground. Alex's eyes were closed and he was trying to wriggle out of Ben's grip. Ben had to note though that Alex was warmer than what he knew was natural and his struggle and resistance was weaker than what he had expected out of him. All Ben had to do was tighten his grip and Alex's attempt to free himself were rendered useless.

"What do you want with Alex?"

Ben looked up to see the other boy, putting up his hands as if he was ready to fight him. He didn't look particularly trained though and Ben could have pointed out at least ten things wrong with his fighting stance. He was definitely not an MI6 trainee yet he did not seem to be fazed at all with the turn of events. He may have been aware of Alex's status in MI6.

Ben had a second to decide. If he kept quiet, the boy in front of him was definitely going to run and report him as a criminal and he didn't want that, especially while vacationing with his family. He had to speak. What could he say though? Hi My name is Ben Daniels, I worked with Alex a few times. Worked where? Doing what?

With how unfazed he looked with the turn of events, there was a high chance that that person really was aware of Alex's status with MI6. There was also a chance he didn't though. Ben looked down, hoping Alex would say something in his defense or at the least, say something which would help Ben decide the better thing to do. The blonde had his eyes closed though, his face a little too pale, his cheeks a little too pink. As Ben quickly examined his Alex, he also became aware of the unnatural warmth of his body.

Was MI6 really overworking Alex this much? Why the hell was Alex out in Bath on Friday night with a fever?

"I think I should be the one asking questions here. Why is Alex in Bath? What does MI6 want from him this time?" His anger got the better of him and Ben had found himself regretting his question as soon as he said it.

 **Unforeseen Circumstances**

Ben was lucky.

The boy he had asked, had introduced himself as Tom and apparently he had already signed the Official Secrets Act. The mistake he made with his impulsive question was fixed within seconds. The problem with the sick and barely conscious Alex was still getting worse though by the second.

Despite his weak protests, Ben had put Alex's arm around his shoulder and supported him as they walked through the almost deserted alleys of Bath. The central city was not too big and luckily the hotel they stayed in was a comfortable walking the distance from where he had first encountered the two boys.

"You shouldn't even be going out with a fever like this." Ben scolded as they walked.

"Since when did my being sick become your business?" Alex's voice was weak and Ben had to strain himself to hear him.

"Since I saw you walking through the streets." Ben answered matter-of-factly. He turned to Tom "So this isn't a mission by MI6?"

Tom shook his head. "It's a special camp organized by our school for extra credit points."

"This is my first time hearing about something like this."

Tom shrugged."They've done it every year."

"Why the hell would you go when you're this sick." Ben asked, looking pointedly at Alex.

There was no reply. At that moment, Ben also noticed that Alex's weight was completely on him. He glanced worriedly at Alex." Why the hell is he here when he's this weak?"

"Like he says, he's fixing his grades."

As they walked through the streets, Tom gave Ben a condensed update about the missions MI6 assigned to Alex, then his struggles catching up in school, the many coursework he had submitted late or failed to submit altogether, the tests he had failed and of course, the PE practicals he was not well enough to participate in. As he listened, Ben could not help but feel more sympathy for Alex and the frustration he felt about Alex, slowly turned to empathy as he started to understand Alex's desperation to bring up his grades.

As they arrived at the hotel, Ben motioned for Tom to follow him through the side of the building. In the lobby, holding an unconscious schoolboy would attract too much attention. They went straight for the service elevators.

"What time do you have to be back?" Ben asked.

"Seven. Alex has a little more than half an hour to sleep before we have to get back."

The elevator chose that moment to ding as the doors opened and they arrived at their floor.

Ben struggled to open the door as he kept Alex who was completely leaning on his shoulder steady with Tom's help. As soon as the door opened he headed straight for the bed and carefully lay Alex on it..

"Alex can rest on my bed. The other bed over there..." He pointed to the other side of the room without taking his eyes off of alex. "is my sisters."

He then turned to Tom and raised one eyebrow in question.

"Tell me, what is stopping Alex from backing out?"

"Stubbornness, pride, circumstance. Alex is a great spy but a fucking idiot. He goes on about this shit about being dead or unemployed. And he's guessing he's got appendicitis."

"Then why isn't he in a hospital? You know that's serious right? He should have told a teacher as soon as he suspected it." Ben sat on the desk chair by the bed and motioned for Tom to sit on the bed beside Alex.

"That's the problem." Tom said. "He can't."

"Why?"

"Alex is stubborn and he told me the reason he won't leave is because of grades. That's partially true but I reckon another thing that's keeping him from telling the teachers is MI6."

MI6. Ben perked up when he heard that word. "Why do you say that?" It was getting harder to contain his curiosity.

"Every after a mission, Alex misses school right? , When he gets back, he get a doctors note from MI6 to give to his teachers. Alex suspects appendictis. According to those doctors notes he gave though, Alex already had appendicitis. He's not supposed to have it again."

Ben grabbed his phone from his pocket and scrolled through the numbers of his colleagues on his phone- Crawley, Mrs Jones, Smithers. Blunt did not give any of his colleagues his contact details. He hovered over Mrs. Jones number. Did MI6 know about this? Was it his job to inform them? How the hell do they explain this to the teachers?

One thing was for sure. This had officially becomes Ben's business as well since these circumstances had become a possible breach to the secrets of MI6 and more importantly, Alex's life.

"You know, Alex would kill me if I took him to the hospital right now. I know that there's a possibility he won't talk to me if we do this but I'm really worried. Ben, we should just contact MI6, Jack and take him to the hospital already."

Ben shook his head. "It's not as easy as that." He mindlessly scrolled through his phone as he was deciding whether to message Mrs. Jones or not. "For sure, your teachers would check in on you guys. If one of you is missing, or two of you, they're going to call the cops."

"Can't MI6 do anything about it?"

"They can do something about it. What they would do? That's what I'm trying to find out right now. Tom, I'm part of the special operations division of MI6, so this has become my business as much as it had become is a pretty delicate situation and we don't really have standard procedure for this so it make take time for us to decide on the best course of action."

"Alex may not have that time."

"And what if I do?"

Ben and Tom turned to Alex who was struggling to sit up. "You're acting like I really am dying."

"You look like you are. You were unconscious alot of the time we were walking back." Ben said as he stood up and walked towards Alex. He grabbed one of the pillows and propped it up, he then readied his hands to help Alex sit up only for Alex to slap them away as soon as he understood Ben's intentions.

"Just because I'm sick, doesn't mean I'm dying. It's normal for sick people to fall asleep." Alex sat up, ignoring the pillow propped up behind him and slowly swung his legs of the side of the bed

"It's not normal to be sick." Tom said as he stared critically at Alex's position.

Alex ignored Tom and continued talking to Ben "Thanks for the effort in worrying about me and trying to keep my secret safe but I can handle this. It's 48 hours. We were in the wild for much longer in Breacon Beacons and in Australia." Alex added as he looked pointedly at Ben.

"This time, you're sick." Ben argued.

"This time, it's a camp planned for high school students, not a military training program." Alex retorted. "If i could survive that, then I can survive this. I'm not leaving the camp Ben. Not until this camp is over.

Ben could only gawk at Alex's skewed logic. He knew that it Alex kept going, he could get the extra credit he needed for camp but he might end up having to miss more school which would make his efforts counter intuitive. He had that argument at the tip of his tongue and maybe if Alex did not look so indignant and stubborn at the moment, he would have let them all loose. Instead, he stayed silent as he opened his suitcase by the bed and pulled out a medicine bottle from one of its smaller pockets.

"This will help you stay alive till you finish it then." Ben threw the medicine bottle on the bed next to Tom.

"What's that?" Alex asked.

TOm held the bottle and turned it around. "There's no name."

"That's because it's not an over-the-counter painkiller." Ben explained. "Last year, I got shot while on a mission with Alex, the recovery wasn't so easy and the painkillers I'd buy over the counter didn't do much to relieve the pain so my doctor had to prescribe me stronger ones."

"Don't you need these?" Tom asked.

"The pain became much more tolerable over time. I stopped using the pills after a week or two. I just bring it around because my parents would nag me if I don't. It did come in handy."

Alex grabbed the bottle from Tom. "How many should I be taking?"

"I took two a day."

"Then I'll do the same." Alex pried the bottle open, poured two on his open palm and popped them into his mouth. "Thanks."

"The least you can do is update me that you're still alive twice a day until you get back to London."

Alex raised one eyebrow at Ben. "Since when did you become my mom?"

"If you don't want to do it, I'll do it." Tom butted in. He took out his phone and turned to Ben. "What's your number?"

Ben reached for Tom's phone and quickly dialed his number. "Actually this is a better idea. I'd rather have an objective update on you than the "I'm okay" bullcrap facade you keep trying show."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Tom would over exaggerate."

"At this point though, an over exaggeration would get you a waste-of-time trip to the hospital while an underexaggeration would get you killed and I think I know what I'd rather see."

"Let's go Tom." Alex said, ignoring Ben. He was avoiding eye contact with him and Ben could not help but smirk in amusement. He could tell Alex had run out of retorts.

"Take care." Ben said as he guided the two boys to the door. "Especially you Alex." Ben made sure to make an over exaggeratedly glance at Tom's shoulder which had become a point of support for Alex.

Alex glared at Ben before slamming the door on his former teammate.

Ben couldn't help but smirk at how pathetic that slam was. If it wasn't for the exaggerated movement, Ben would have thought, Alex had just merely closed the door. As soon as he thought about it though, he started to worry as well. Ben knew Alex was stronger than that. He had seen it in the way Alex had fought the street fighter in Thailand. He had seen it in how fast and easily Alex completed the military training in Breacon Beacons for a fourteen year old.

Ben was worried. Alex told him not to worry but he'd seen Alex at his healthiest and at that moment, Alex really looked like he was dying. As Ben contemplated Alex's slow and hesitant movements, his unfocused eyes, he started to doubt his initial decision to keep MI6 and Mrs. Jones out of what was happening and let Alex finish the camp.

His thumb had been fiddling with his contacts list for sometime. Clicking Ms. Jones name had become something of a temptation he didn't want to give into. As he considered Alex's health, his own worries and his duty towards MI6, his initial promise to Alex fell in the back burner.

Within minutes, Ben had given into temptation.

 **What do you think? Do give me feedback! Praise? Constructive Criticism? My plot bunnies are inspired and very hungry so leave them a yummy review :D I'm also curious as to where you guys think this story will go. I already have the story planned out so I won't be stealing ideas anytime soon. Unless you do want me to add a certain scene or you wanna give me some ideas.**

 **Just leave them in the reviews! Looking forward to your feedback ^^**

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	7. Celebrations

**Thank you to all the people who reviewed the last chapter! Sorry for the late update. Life doesn't leave much time for writing.**

Contrary to its name, survival courses aren't generally made to kill. They can injure, they can maim but more often than not there is always someone behind the scenes that would pull a player out before it gets to the point of death.

This applies to military trainings, extreme sports, crazy game shows, reality shows, stunts in movies and fraternity hazings and Tom had watched enough of those to know that. He also knew that Alex had done military training similar to that and had done fieldwork numerous times.

What they were going to be doing that morning was a survival course, a high school survival course that when compared to that his military training should be nothing more than a mindless walk in the park. The forests near the city weren't necessarily dangerous either.

Unless everything around you was trying to kill you as you walked through the park. Alex was unlucky in that aspect.

His body was killing him. His teammates looked like they were trying to do it as well. They were high school students and he didn't think they meant to kill Alex. He knew though that they were dumb and immature enough to put him in life threatening situations when it suited them and the pool incident a day ago was evidence of just that.

He thought of MI6 as well or at least what he knew of them. MI6 for sure, wouldn't mean to kill Alex. The latter though, was putting his life on the line for the sake of keeping his affiliations with them a secret. Because of that, Tom couldn't help but think that MI6 was killing him as well.

Ben though, Tom had to gratefully note, had been making an effort to at least keep Alex alive.

Alex could have also backed out of the survival course. Tom reflected on it for a while and realized that even with the circumstances surrounding Alex's being sick, Alex still had a choice as to how he was going to handle the situation. He could have easily still pulled out of the survival course and rest until they got back to London. That could have saved him a lot of pain. He could have also reported to MI6 the issue instead of telling Ben to keep quiet about it.

Hell, Alex is an idiot. Tom thought as he opened his eyes to the light streaming from his window and the sound of Alex breathing almost too weakly on the bed beside him.

"Alex?"

He heard something that sounded like a muffled whimper under the blanket.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Alex's voice was clear but he was obviously not fine. Tom could hear it in the crack of his voice and the fact that his tone sounded too forced, as if he was trying to convince himself of his own condition.

Tom stood up, rubbing his eyes sleepily and opened up Alex's bag. He grabbed the medicine bottle Ben had given them last night and placed it on the side table. "You know the drill."

Alex did not reply. He sat up and took the bottle with one hand and pried it open with the other.

Tom bit his lip as he worriedly watched Alex try to turn the top a few times to no avail.

After a few tries, the blond fell back down on the bed, squeezing his eyes shut. "It's fine. I don't need it."

"Gimme that." Tom took the bottle from him and pried the cap open on his own, only getting more worried as he realized the bottle could have been opened by a child.

"Thanks." Alex mumbled.

"One should be enough." Tom said as he took one out and placed it on Alex's hand. He had read the instructions last night. The warning signs at the side of the bottle made the painkillers sound like drugs and Tom did not want to take any chances.

Alex put it in his mouth and lay back on the bed, turning on his side to face Tom.

"You don't need water?" Tom asked as he held his jug out.

"No. What time do we have to be down?"

"You don't sound like you're getting better." Tom narrowed his eyes at Alex. "I don't think they'd penalize you if you-"

"What time do we have to be down?" Alex asked again as if Tom's suggestion had remained unsaid.

Tom sighed in defeat. If he wanted to convince Alex, he shouldn't be the one doing it."You have 5 minutes before we really have to leave. Rest first."

Alex closed his eyes and fell back asleep soon after.

Whether Alex did fall asleep or not was not Tom's problem anymore. Tom hated the idea of Alex having to do that survival course in the first place. Especially when he took a closer look at Alex's face, he was more flushed than before, Tom did not touch his friend's forehead but even them, he could feel the heat radiate from him. He stared at the clock on his phone.

7:15 . They had to be down by 7:20.

He was surprised he still managed to be honest to Alex. He could have easily just said it was still 6am and Alex had more than enough time to sleep. At the same time, he knew if they were late, Nick would give more hell to Alex and this time, it could really land Alex in the hospital.

Tom unlocked his phone and went to his contacts, thumb hovering over Ben Daniels name. He took a deep breath and clicked the send message button.

He couldn't help but notice that Alex seemed much sicker than last night. He knew him well enough though to know that as long as he was conscious, he was going to finish the survival course. Tom had accepted that already. The most he would have wanted to do was be there for Alex as he gets bullied into ridiculous tasks once again while trying to feign healthiness. With his own group to think about, Tom knew he couldn't do that.

He apologized silently to Alex as he composed his message to Ben.

 _Alex's getting sicker and I won't be able to watch him. I need help._

Tom clicked send and he lay back on the bed and sighed. He did not know what his message could do exactly but he heard from Alex the extent of MI6's capabilities. Were they capable of pulling Alex out without alerting the teachers? If what Alex has been saying about MI6 must be true and at that moment, Tom was praying it was. Even if it meant breaking Alex's trust.

 **Unforeseen Circumstances**

Watch and Wait.

That had been Mrs. Jones order. MI6 was prepared for most security breaches but a security breach in a high school camp, due to fake sick notes and a very sick agent was not a common breach that even a military intelligence agency would think of. First of all, there aren't supposed to be high school students working for MI6, second, most schools in England did not have bonus camps and lastly, Alex was healthy . He had had enough MI6 sponsored check ups to be sure of that.

Mrs. Jones had admitted over the phone that it was an unforeseen chain of events. She had known that Alex was going to a camp, she hadn't expected him to fall ill then and there and to what could possibly be appendicitis, a sickness they had used once for a sick note..

If Alex had contracted appendicitis any other time, it would have been easily covered up with another doctor's note.

If Alex had contracted any other sickness, for sure, it wouldn't have escalated to an issue MI6 would have to deal with.

Ben found the sudden chain of events, almost laughable and if it wasn't for the fact that it was his own squadmate that was struck by that series of unfortunate and unforeseen events and that it was MI6 that was in danger of having their security breached, Ben probably given a few minutes to laugh at the circumstances. The most he could muster though was a wry smile as he searched the complications and mortality rate of appendicitis on his laptop.

 _What else could I do as I watch and wait?_ Ben thought. Mrs. Jones had told Ben to act as he saw fit but Alex had told him not to pry. The only thing he could do to feel at least mildly productive was to google the symptoms of appendicitis. It was worrying but at the least, it made Ben feel involved.

"We have to meet mom and dad for breakfast."

Ben jumped and instinctively slammed his laptop close. Ben looked behind him to see his sister standing behind him. She was still in pajamas, her hair askew.

"Good morning to you too." Ben said as he gave his sister an exaggeratedly critical once over, hoping that was enough to make him look natural and guiltless.

"You know you don't have to hide your work from me right? I'm not like mom and dad."

"Who said I was working?"

"The way you were reading in the laptop. That's the same face you make when you're 'working' or at least when mom and dad accuse you of it." His sister answered matter-of-factly.

Ben made a mental note to work on his facial expressions. He hadn't noticed how predictable he looked. Chloe was his sister, it was only natural that she would be savvy with to his personality but he could not help but still mentally scold himself for that, a habit he had probably picked up through the many times his superiors had scolded him for being too careless

"It's work." Ben admitted. "You won't tell mom and dad?"

"When have I ever told on you? I was the one who covered for you cause you couldn't come home high those few times. "

Ben grinned. It was only at that moment that he remembered that his sister had always been on his side. Ever since he got shot and his parents became more vocal about their distaste for his new job, he had felt that his whole family was against him. It did not help that his sister did not live in the same house as them anymore nor in the same region.

"Now tell me, why are you reading about appendicitis for work?" Chloe asked as she cocked her head to the side, her eyes wide and curious.

Ben bit his lip as he looked back at his cover up. His family knew he worked for the military. They knew he got shot. He never had the opportunity though to mention any specifics. The few times he did try to discuss his work or at least the general details so he wouldn't seem to secretive, his parents had shot him down with a brash comment about how his career was not sustainable in the long run or how it wouldn't give him enough to raise a family.

The good thing about that though was there were not a lot of specifics his sister could nitpick, meaning Ben had many more ways Ben could lie about his job. What could he say though? He had already said that he was reading for work. If he took it back then, his sister would be suspicious and maybe even hurt at his lack of trust in her.

"It's about my colleague. He might have appendicitis and I'm a little worried." In the end, Ben had settled for the truth, or at least a vague and washed-up version of it.

"You could ask me. We did a module on that a while back, and that was the topic of my course work."

"Really?"

Chloe shrugged. "Well at least part of it. I did a study on laparoscopic surgeries and one of my examples was appendicitis."

"That means you can help me then. First, I need to know how long someone can live with an untreated inflamed appendix."

Chloe's mouth dropped in surprise. "Why-"

At that moment, the two heard a buzz from the table. Ben instinctively pressed the home button on his phone and cursed silently as he saw the name in bold letters.

 **Tom Harris**

Was that good news or bad news? Ben was well acquainted with Murphy's law and from there he knew that the higher probability was the latter. "Do some research if you need to. I'll take this message." Ben tapped lightly on his laptop and pushed it to his sister.

 _I need help._

Ben's stomach dropped as he read that. He quickly typed out a reply.

 _Where are you guys? Is Alex okay?_

Ben rolled his eyes at the ludicrousness of what he just sent and was quick to amend it.

 _Alive *_

 _Now yes, I don't know about later._ Tom replied within seconds. _We need to go. I'll send you my location as soon as I can. Alex shouldn't be too far._

"Chloe. I need you to cover for me." Ben said. He opted not to change out of his sweats and put a coat over himself.

"Wait, you can't just ditch for work."

"Mom and dad can handle one day without me."

"Ben… It's mom's-"

Ben tuned out the voice of his younger sister and opened the door only to see his mom and dad just outside the room. His mom had her hand raised as if she was about to knock on the door.

"Hi mom, dad." Ben said, quickly composing himself so at the least he could look like he was going out because he was hungry and definitely not to run away from another family outing.

He kept his eyes fixed at his mom though as she stared at him expectantly. He could hear the tap of her shoes. She looked like she was waiting for something but the shock of seeing his parents just outside the door left Ben to mind blocked to even guess what it was about.

"Happy Birthday Mom!"

From his peripherals, Ben could see his sister hurry towards their mother and hug her.

At that moment, Ben was reminded of the other reason why his mom had insisted on a get together in the first place.

"Happy birthday!" Ben repeated as he forced a wide smile, opened his arms wide and hugged his mother as well, mostly so she wouldn't see Ben's smile suddenly drop, and his features fall into a face of pure horror.

Ben was definitely not happy with the turn of events.

 **This was a short chapter and not much happened really happened. Sorry about that. I couldn't find any other good place to cut the chapter since next chapter will be a bit more action filled with Nick and Bruno dicking around with Alex and Tom trying so hard to sneak out of his own group to help Alex out and of course Ben, trying to get out of his own tight spot.**

 **Anyway, I hope to finish that next chapter so I can get it out soon.**

 **Do leave a review! Reviews make good plot bunny feed which means more drive to write and (hopefully) sooner updates and your comments and suggestions really do add more detail and color to my story so keep reviewing!**


	8. Self Preservation

**I don't know if this is legal but I really couldn't think of any other thing to write for the prompt for this week which was "self preservation, the first law of intelligence."**

 **The deadline for the drabble is today though so I ended up incorporating it to this story in one scene because it does work :o. It's probably not legal though but ehhh, I wanted to celebrate spyfest in my own way.**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

"Fun." Aaron muttered as he read through the map and list of tasks to finish by the end of the day. There was no sarcasm laced in his voice, at the same time, he wasn't particularly excited for the survival course. In truth, he wasn't referring to their tasks at all. He was in fact, recalling one of the formulas they would need to calculate the frictional coefficient of the surface they will be measuring at the fifth station.

"Force is equal to mu times normal force." Nick repeated as he noted it down next to the station. "The last two stations after this shouldn't be too hard. It's all simple math. I can leave any of you in charge of it, except Alex that is." He mentioned the last part with a bitter tone as he glanced at Alex who was standing to the side. Alex had his hands in his pockets, his jacket was zipped all the way up and his hood was over his head. Nick could have sworn at that moment that Alex was not listening to them at all.

"So what do you plan on contributing to the group Alex?" He asked, loud enough for Alex to hear, and more importantly for their three other teammates to hear.

Alex looked up, his eyes still looked as unfocused as a while ago. He shrugged."You didn't ask me for help at all, yet you asked for help from the others. I'm assuming that means you don't value my opinion as much. So I won't give it."

Alex's voice was nonchalant and too accepting of his universally undesirable status as the useless groupmate and for some reason, it ticked Nick off.

"This is a _group work,_ Alex. You didn't help at all in the planning. You better be ready to do more physical work to make up for it." He chided as he threw the bag of supplies at Alex's feet. He looked at the bag on the floor and then made eye contact with Alex.

Alex had gotten the message. The blond slowly and silently bent down and slung the strap of the bag over his shoulder. He faltered as he stood up. No one had made a move to help him.

Nick knew anyone else could have faltered under the weight of the bag. He had packed a measuring tape, a compass, packed lunches, a first aid kit, a stopwatch, a calculator, a notebook, a GPS tracker and other possibly useful tools, his teammates had decided to add to the bag.

Most groups had split the weight between members, putting the tools in smaller bags. With their group dynamics being a lot more unconventional than most seeing as they had Alex Rider, the resident druggie, he had felt the need to maximize the utility of that last member by treating him as a pack mule. Their group was at a disadvantage since they had four brains instead of the five of most other groups so he might as well just make sure they'd be less tired. That was one reason he pondered over as he watched Alex painstakingly pull the bag over his shoulder. The other reason why he decided on that was it was as amusing as he expected watching Alex struggle under the weight of the bag.

"Don't slow us down, Alex. It's hard enough figuring all this out with one less working brain " Nick said with a barely muffled snicker.

 **Unforeseen Circumstances**

"You better be using that compass in your phone."

Tom jumped as he instinctively turned to sound of Irene's voice. The latter was crouching behind him. He had leaned on a tree and sat back down when he realized that his other groupmates were not going to agree on a plan of action anytime soon.

They had mentioned trigonometric ratios and frictional coefficients and even before Tom could recall that the reciprocal of cosine was secant not cosecant (like many people, he needed a second or two of buffer time), his brain had decided not to even bother trying to comprehend their plans and he turned to something more pressing.

 _Contacting Ben. More importantly, trying to get Alex out._

Ben got caught up in a family event, it was his mother's birthday and he had completely forgot. He said he would try to get out the second he could. Tom didn't think he could wait though, he had to find a way to get to Alex.

That's how he had ended up glued to his phone, so out of touch with what was happening around him that he had jumped at the slightest sound.

"I honestly don't know how to help. Hell, I don't even know why we'd need a compass." Tom admitted. It actually wasn't an admission. At this point, he low key wanted to be declared redundant so he could leave, find Alex and find a way to get him out.

"So you're not here for the extra grade either huh? You know you won't be getting any extra credit if you don't help out."

"It would be nice." Tom said. "But I really wasn't planning to join from the start. It's Alex who needs this."

"I'm honestly surprised he's doing this. I guess he's starting to realize that he won't be able to get to sixth form if he doesn't straighten up," Tom couldn't help but notice that compared to a lot of people who had talked about Alex around him, she did not have a trace of contempt in her voice.

Tom though was still tempted to correct her. _Alex has always been grade conscious and responsible._ He wanted to say. How could he explain the unrealistic amount of absences without mentioning Alex's secret though.

"The last time he ditched school was January. He's been trying to get back on track since then." Tom said.

"So was the drug phase before that _really_ a drug phase or was he really as sickly as the doctor's notes said he was?"

Tom looked away. He was thinking of Alex, he was racking his brain for the right words to explain Alex without mentioning his secret and making eye contact could only cause him to spill what he had in mind even before it was packaged and ready.

"You know you don't have to tell me. But I'll tell you what I think, the drug stories are as unbelievable as the doctor's notes. You're his best friend. Yet, you don't seem as taken by drugs either. You play soccer well, you still do decently in school and when he's in school, you're always together and you're always around him like you're trying to protect him from something.' The dynamics just don't seem to add up to what I'd expect from a best friend duo with one druggie and when decent kid."

"Maybe I'm just more accepting than most people." Tom said as he picked his words carefully. He had considered denying it for a second until he realized that how he planned to deny it would have made it sound like Alex was a druggie.

"If you were, I'm pretty sure you would have been just accepting of all the other resident druggies in our class."

"A more accepting friend."He corrected. "Alex is a childhood friend."

"You can explain it all you want but honestly, it really just doesn't add up. Alex looks nothing like a druggie or a gangster. And the way you treat him doesn't look anything like how a best friend would treat his druggie or gangster best friend either. You're too protective of him. You even went to this camp with him. "

"I don't think you went to this camp of your own volition either. You went to this camp with Christine." Tom said.

"It was a bet. I lost the bet." She answered matter of factly. "At least I can manage when I'm not with her. You're looking like you've been separated from a lover."

Tom instinctively recoiled at the implication. "What the hell."

"You're not the best student but I know you're much better than a deadweight groupmate. Are you getting separation anxiety or something?"

"I'm worried about Alex alright? He's been sick since we arrived here..." It felt like a weight had been lifted off of him when he mentioned that.

"That explains your uselessness and Alex's wonky behavior" Irene grinned triumphantly and within seconds, her face turned serious once again "He dove into the pool yesterday with a fever?"

Tom nodded.

"You know yesterday when we were doing that swimming pool challenge, I was also thinking to myself that we could easily just dive in and measure that depth but the water could have been almost below freezing with the weather."

Tom shrugged. "A lot of people looked like they were praising Nick for even thinking that up. As if he was the one who dove into the water and measured the depth."

"It's not intelligence. It's audacity. It's easier to order someone than to do it yourself. I mean in the end, the leader still gets the credit for just giving out the order. I think true intelligence would have been to find a way to keep your whole team safe while you get the task done. Self-preservation, the first law of intelligence."

 _Self preservation, the first law of intelligence._

If what Irene was saying was right, then Alex has already transcended all levels of human obtusity trying to adhere to society's idea of intelligence.

 **Unforeseen Circumstances**

The stream was clear and the bottom wasn't too far down. Alex knew that many clear bodies of water had the tendency to make depth look too shallow or too deep. He hoped though that the stream was lying. He would rather the depth been far below, He could easily swim up. Falling on a shallow creek could mean contusions, concussions or a sprained ankle, depending on what fell in first.

With Nick's new set of orders, he knew he would have to start evaluating the risks. From what Alex understood, they had to measure the angle of the incline that goes down along the stream to be able to measure the true distance the incline is calculated as. Someone had to step down and walk along the stream, the pathway which was only wide enough for one person, that is if the person was okay with the risk of falling into the water.

Alex sniffed, he heard and he felt the consequences of yesterday's gimmick. He was starting to catch a cold. With his already sick body, the signs and symptoms were all just swirling together and Alex didn't even bother trying to differentiate which was from the cold and which was from the worsening of his condition. As far as he knew, he was just utterly sick.

"You won't have to walk along, just go down towards the edge were the ground levels and use the clinometer to measure the angle. From there we can calculate the true distance. It's just simple trig." Aaron explained.

 _Sohcahtoa. Inverse trig, secant, cosecant, tangent?_ Alex racked his brain, recalling all the lessons he had crammed the few days he was in school. He understood the ratios but as he stepped down onto the narrow path along the stream, he realized that he couldn't fit trig into the situation they were doing at that moment. No amount of cramming and catching up could have prepared him for this kind of problem where true understanding of math topics beyond formulas, to the point that he was starting to think that they're demeaning and demoting him to pack mule could almost be justified. He wouldn't have been able to solve these problems on his own.

Aaron had mentioned that it was "simple trig" Alex had to note though that Aaron did not sound at all demeaning when he said it. There was no ill will or contempt in his voice. He had even gone out of way to explain to Alex a little of the calculations involved. Alex took the clinometer and nodded. "Alright."

"You know we wouldn't need the calculations if you just walk down with this and measure it yourself. We don't need a clinometer." Nick suggested as he handed Alex the meterstick. "I doubt Alex would even know how to use the clinometer properly. Were you even there when they actually taught you guys how to use it?"

Alex couldn't argue. That was his first time having to use that instrument.

"Just walk along the stream and measure the length all the way until there" Nick pointed towards the height where the upward incline leveled.

Alex looked to Aaron to see that the latter stayed silent as Nick guided Alex down into the banks. Alex looked from where he entered towards the highest point, it looked to be almost ten meters long. He was going to have to be careful of falling while measuring that length with a meter stick. The path was narrow and he could only fit if he stood straight while walking straight ahead. Bending down would be a challenge, trying to fit a meter stick between him in the stream felt almost impossible. Alex removed his shoes. "Alright."

"Wait, I'll come with you."

Alex looked to his side to see Christine had finally spoken up.

"I can do it alone." Alex said. "I mean, I'm the only one who doesn't understand the lesson."

"You already measured the depth of the swimming pool yesterday. You shouldn't be doing all this on your own."

By that point, Alex realized that he wouldn't be able to talk Christine out of going down to the narrow banks with him. She was already taking off her shoes.

The path was narrow and Alex was already using up all the scarce energy he had trying to stay balanced. It was as if Christine knew that. She had taken it upon herself to bend down and align the meterstick along the banks while counting the meters out loud.

Only after Christine counted two meters did Alex realize that he wasn't contributing at all. "I'll keep count. You align it with the banks." Alex said in attempt to find something to contribute. At that point, Christine was doing all the work.

In any other day, Alex probably would have had enough energy and focus to balance on the narrow path while bending down at regular intervals to measure the length of the path under him. Heck, he had tightroped before, of course he would have that balance. Standing up on the narrow pathway while trying to placate the combination of a growling headache, the shortness of breath, the stuffed nose and of course the stabbing pain to the side of his stomach was another story. Alex was in the most glaring of understatements, compromised.

At that point, Christine was doing a better job than him and from what Alex knew, she wasn't even fond of physical activity.

It happened in less than a second. As Christine bent down to pick up the meterstick after counting the seventh meter, she had stepped on the side of the bank which was too brittle to have even carried her weight. The soil broke off and Christine had lost the little balance she was able to muster just to stand up and she fell into the stream.

If it were shallow, Christine would have ended up with a concussion with the way she had fallen into the water. Alex though didn't have time to be grateful that the water was deeper than that. What Alex didn't expect was the speed of the water was much faster and the waves stronger than what Christine looked like she could handle.

She resurfaced, only to be washed away by the stream. Alex didn't even bother looking at his three groupmates. He dived in. The water was too deep for Christine who was naturally smaller than most people. Alex realized though the bottom was not too far below. He could easily tiptoe but tiptoeing towards Christine was slow, he was going to have to swim if he wanted to overtake her. It was a struggle trying to swim faster than the water while at the same time trying to keep control of his speed. There were a few close calls as he tried to dodge the rocks that seem embedded on the ground under the water. He wondered how long he could continue swimming before his body gave up on him.

He had swam maybe more than ten meters when he saw that Christine had held on a rock that was sticking out of the water dear life. She had closed her eyes and her face was pink as if she had been crying.

By the time he saw her though, he was still going straight ahead. If he wanted to make it to her, he would have to find a way to swerve towards her before he ended up overtaking her. Alex took a deep breath. With the speed and force of the water, it was a risky move. He planted his foot on the ground beneath him and twisted to the side, using the push from below as momentum to swerve.

He was surprised his body was able to generate enough force to manage that. His ankle though had bent awkwardly as he twisted towards the side. He felt the hot pain and he saw the familiar white flash. It reminded him of what happened in Nairobi airport only last January. It was the same ankle as then.

Alex had only a second to scold himself for having used his bad ankle as a source of momentum before he realized that he was hurtling towards the rock at uncontrollable speed.

"Alex, look out!"

It was Christine's voice. Alex knew he had to look out, but his body could do nothing more than try to evade the giant rock. He had no more energy though and even the reserves his body had kept for self preservation weren't enough to completely evade said rock.

He had willed himself to evade the rock. His body only had enough energy to avoid hitting it head on. Instead, of changing his course, he had ended up aligning his right side towards the rock. His bad side.

He would have probably suffered a severe concussion if he had hit the rock on. Alex couldn't say for sure that what happened was any better. His right side had hit the rock, the right side that had been hurting for days was what hit the rock. It was as if that blunt force of rock to his side had pushed what has been stabbing into his side, deeper into his body.

Alex stifled a scream.

 **Tell me what you think!**


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